


The Lady of Shanghai

by Milksapphire



Series: The Rise and Fall of The Greek Empire [1]
Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Xena: Warrior Princess, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 13:47:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 52
Words: 277,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7804225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milksapphire/pseuds/Milksapphire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Xena continued on as the Destroyer of Nations and Borias had managed to live as well as Solan? Xena's empire stretches from Asia Minor and East Asia as well as Greece; longing for Rome to be hers she will go through any obstacle to obtain leadership of the Roman Empire. Along the way she finds a certain blonde to bend to her every command for her pleasure. Gabrielle, wishing to please the Conqueror, may find out that Xena isn't all what she claims to be. Perhaps the Conqueror's heart is not so black after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue Part I

**AN: I do not own any of these characters from Xena Warrior Princess.**

**Just a side note: I have changed quite a lot of things from the show as what FF allows us writers to do when we want to be creative. I'm not going to reveal a lot in the prologue, but it will be enough to see how things are different.**

**I have never written a Xena story before, but I am positive it will be an epic adventure. So once upon a time...**

* * *

_Prologue Part I_

_Fifteen Summers Ago_

Xena gazed upon the army before her. She had been commanding this army ever since she had met Borias and that was quite some time ago. The men seemed to follow her every command and desire and she swam in that glory whenever she had the opportunity. Borias on the other hand was not too keen on listening to Xena's orders and demands she made of him sometimes. They had been together for roughly three years now and during the first year they couldn't keep their hands off each other and Xena even claimed she had feelings for him as he did as well. Now, things were different, very different. Xena had her eye on the world, she didn't want just Greece, she wanted Asia Minor, Chin, Japa, Egypt, and even Rome. She had her eye on the prize and this caused a slow drift between her and Borias as far as feelings were concerned.

Borias had grown tired of Xena for the last half of the year as she became more engulfed with raping and pillaging every village they stopped at. He wasn't sure if she had a goal anymore or if she was just killing for sport these days. Although he did not doubt her willpower and military skills, she had many skills of course, but he was beginning to wonder if Xena was losing her mind.

He stepped out of his tent, which sometimes he shared with Xena whenever _she_ felt like joining him. Looking up on the hill he saw she was wearing her traditional leather battle armor with a long skirt covering her leather pants and knee high laced boots. Her waist-length hair was flowing freely in the light Mediterranean breeze as she was yelling at her men to move supplies from one ship to the other. Xena had become quite the navy commander, but she was not fond of ships or being out at sea for that matter. She preferred to stay on dry land where she could observe her men and her enemies up close.

Slowly he approached her stretching his arms over his head. He wrapped his arm around her neck and across her shoulders.

"I didn't hear you get up this morning," he said becoming rather entranced by her appearance, more than usual and kissed her neck.

She brushed him off gently with a shrug of her shoulder, "not now Borias, can't you see I am very busy?" she didn't make eye contact with him and continued to look at her men transporting supplies with her arms folded.

Borias threw his hands in the air at her attitude. "You are always busy, Xena!" he groaned putting his hands on his hips.

Xena smirked, "yeah well, looks like you'll never know what that feels like since I _stole_ your army," she smiled devilishly peering back at her lover.

He scoffed and brushed her insult off then walked away from the hill top retreating back to his tent to change his clothes and get into battle armor. Xena was to send him on a mission today and he needed to make sure that he was ready before she bit his head off. Last week he was late to command a few men on a scouting mission and it ruined her entire plan for the rest of the day. She was not a happy woman, he didn't like to think about Xena when she was angry, which wasn't rare.

Half a candlemark later Borias was finishing lacing his vest and attaching his sword to his hip. He suddenly heard someone come into his tent and his muscles tensed. Once he saw who entered he relaxed his body and tried not to smile at her appearance.

Xena leaned against the wooden posts at the entrance of Borias' tent with a playful smile. She held a dagger in one hand and an apple in the other hand. Slowly she walked up to Borias casually twirling the dagger in her hand. She came around to the front of him and peeled off a piece of the apple and pierced the fruit with her dagger offering it to Borias.

He wasn't sure what kind of game she was playing but he could see it in her bright blue eyes that she was up to something. Her pearly white smile said it all and she continued to tease him with the piece of fruit on the tip of the dagger.

"...apples don't bite, you know?" Xena said through her conniving smile trying to convince him to eat the fruit.

"Is it poisoned?" Borias teased his raven haired lover before him.

Xena's eyebrows raised high disappearing in her thick black bangs.

"Tsk, tsk, Borias...you should know better," she bit the piece of apple off the dagger and smiled as she finished chewing, "poison is not my style...it's..." she traced the dagger across his chest grazing his skin softly, "... _weak_ ," she circled around Borias with dagger still in hand.

He felt the skin on the back of his rise as she was so close to him. Someone so gorgeous should not be so deadly at the same time. Suddenly he snapped back into reality and realized that he had a mission to do and he wasn't going to let her distract him, for all he knew it could be some weird trap of hers.

"I'm going to send Cyrus and Kezan to scout the area before we go to the nearby village," he stated and saw Xena's expression changed almost immediately. He heard a loud thump and saw she was laying down on his bed of animal skins quite comfortably.

"You have to leave...right now?" she asked leaning on her elbows staring up at him with a nonchalant look on her pouting face.

Borias raised an eyebrow smirking ever so slightly at her pouting face, "you told me to do this yesterday, or do you not remember after all that wine you had?" he laced his sword to his hip and grabbed his bow.

Xena frowned, "I did ask you to do that, didn't I?" she sighed sliding off her elbows and lying flat on the bed gazing at the roof of the tent intently. She rose slightly and saw Borias was still getting ready to leave oblivious to her hint for him to stay with her despite her previous orders.

"You don't _have_ to leave," she said tenderly with a smile creeping on her lips.

He turned to look at Xena as she was obviously in a playful mood. Her wild hair matched her wild eyes and devious grin as she continued to stare at him.

Borias shook his head, "no..no, don't do this," he groaned and started to walk out of the tent ignoring her. Xena frowned and got up and blocked the entrance to the tent. "What do you think you're doing?" his voice elevating in irritation.

"I want you to stay with me, just the two of us. Cyrus and Kezan will be fine on their own," she smiled and shrugged, "besides I can just send someone else in your place."

He folded his arms very aware that she wasn't going to let him pass, "you're allowed to come into my tent but I am not allowed to enter yours?" he smirked noting how arrogant it made Xena seem. He set his bow down on the table close to the bed and started taking off his sword and laces around his leather vest.

Xena waltzed over to the bed casually and sat down. She watched him as he began taking off his thick leather vest and he was definitely taking his time. Growing impatient she stood and ripped off his vest leaving Borias astonished and exposing a bare chest.

"Xena, what in Gods' name..." he turned and saw the entire reason why she wanted him to stay.

Xena slipped off her leathers and was now in a black cropped tunic that she wore underneath her armor. Sitting on the bed she pulled him closer to her and she started untying his leather pants with a devious smile planted on her lips.

"Stay with me," she said sensually and kissed his abdomen gently. He looked down at her and realized he wouldn't be able to resist her any longer. It had been awhile since she genuinely wanted to lay with him, unless she was up to something.

Perhaps it would be better to not think if there was something ticking in that mind of hers just this once. Just this once.

* * *

The following morning Xena woke up with Borias lying beside her with his arm draped over her back. Careful not to wake him she slipped out from beneath his arm wrapping herself in a silk sheet. Fall was almost over and the weather was starting to become more frigid with every passing day. She always tried to wake up before anybody else in their campsite because she wanted to survey the area alone plus she enjoyed having the mornings to herself, away from all the questions and nagging from her men. Her servant would probably be waking up in the next couple of hours in her tent across the field wondering where her commander had gone to.

Xena knelt down crushing some herbs with her hands, breaking apart the flower stems and setting them in a pot that was held over a small fire inside Borias' tent. She heard rustling from behind and knew that she had awoken him now that she was not beside him allowing her side of the bed to become cold.

Borias looked at Xena who was kneeling next to the fire making some sort of drink over the fire in a pot. He stretched his arms over his head and smiled.

"What are you doing, Xena?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

Xena continued making her concoction, "what does it _look_ like I'm doing?" she replied snidely.

Borias sighed and stifled a laugh causing Xena to turn her head and glare at him. "You always look like you're about to attack someone Xena. You don't need to act like that around me," he added.

She turned around and poured the drink into a cup and scooted over towards the bed and sat on the floor covering herself up with the sheet. She held the warm cup in her hands allowing the heat to warm her body from the cold breeze that crept into the tent.

Borias came close to her, laying down on his stomach he was now very close to her face. He brushed the backside of his hand on her cheek. She pulled away from his touch but that didn't seem to deter him. He was able to get a waft of the drink Xena had in her cup and it was rather potent.

"What is that?" he wrinkled his nose at the unpleasant strong aroma.

"have you never heard of tea before, Borias?" Xena snidely remarked and took a sip of the awful tea.

Judging by her expression he saw she didn't care for it and so he laughed, "you don't even like the taste of it, why are you drinking it? Do you wish to kill your insides?" he joked.

Xena rolled her eyes, "I should've stayed in my own tent," she grumbled as she got up from the floor and grabbed her clothes heading for the exit.

Borias was about to abject to her leaving but she took off too quickly. He groaned and started putting his clothes back on and hurried out of the tent. He was sure not that nobody else was awake at this hour as the sun was barely rising.

"Xena!" he yelled and she kept walking over the hill still wrapped in the silk sheet carrying her clothes. He huffed and ran up the hill trying to catch her before she got back to her tent. The air was crisp and very cold especially without the sun.

Finally catching up to her he grabbed her arm, "what's the matter with you? Can't you see it's cold outside and you're not wearing...anything," he scanned her body.

She jerked her arm away from his hold and continued walking back to her tent. He continued to follow her and she knew he would but deciding to ignore him she only hurried even more to get back to her tent.

A few marches later she arrived to her private tent and saw her servant girl was making some tea and had Xena's clothes laid out on her bed for today. Xena threw the sheet to the side and began dressing herself in the clean clothes on her bed. Her servant handed her a cup of the tea once she was semi-dressed. Xena took the cup and slowly sipped it trying not to burn her tongue in the process.

Borias burst through the entrance of her tent and was trying to catch his breath. "Get out," he gestured to the servant girl attending Xena.

The girl was making her way for the exit until Xena grabbed the girl's arm, "you don't get to make commands in my tent, Borias. Whatever you have to say you can say it in front of her too," she smiled still drinking the tea while the girl continued to dress her accordingly.

He didn't want to argue with her so he complied, "what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked folding his arms. He scoffed at her drinking that tea again, "and why are you drinking that horrible concoction? It smells like sheep dung."

The servant girl looked up to Xena with a worrisome face and Xena noticed the girl's apprehension.

"Leave us," she commanded the girl.

Borias watched the young girl leave and he turned back to look at Xena and smiled. "So now you let her leave?" he shook his head scoffing at the audacity of this woman who he claimed to love.

Xena set the tea down on a table and laced her arm braces embracing Borias' glare. She decided that she wouldn't be able to keep this a secret for long as she had already kept it long enough.

"I'm pregnant," she mumbled, continuing to lace her leathers.

This wasn't the exact reaction she was expecting but she heard Borias start to laugh softly and it gradually turned into a very audible laugh. She turned to him, narrowed eyes and all.

"that is not funny, Xena," he slowly started to stop his laughing attack.

"I'm not one for jokes, Borias," she stated bluntly.

His smile soon disappeared as he saw she was being very serious. He didn't know what to say and for once he was actually speechless in his life. All that was able to come out of his mouth was, "what?"

"I didn't want to tell you because you would look at me differently, just like you are right now!" She spat and put her on her boots quickly so she could leave her tent to begin her day.

"When...when did you know?" his voice becoming concerned and softer than usual.

This was a really bad idea, Xena said to herself. Very bad idea. Should've never slept with him in the first place.

Xena finished putting on her boots and head for the exit. She was held back by a slight pull of her arm.

"Xena!" he pulled her back towards him. "We aren't finished here!"

"I'd say we _are_ ," she looked into his dark eyes and spun around and stormed out of the tent.

He called out her name once more but she didn't stop as she marched up and over the hill. He cursed to himself. She wasn't much for small talk, but this wasn't exactly small talk and he obviously didn't know how to handle this on his own and she probably didn't either. He would get to talk to her...somehow...during the day when no one is around.

* * *

The middle of the day came and the weather was quite nice. Borias had gone scouting with a group of men and decided to come back early to find Xena but he couldn't seem to find her anywhere. He asked her two leading generals but they didn't know where she had gone to either. Groaning inwardly his patience was starting to wear very thin now.

He walked to the nearby lake and heard someone behind a few large trees close to the water. His hand went for his dagger on his hip and he crept around a tree slowly prepared to use his weapon not sure who would be out here. Xena's army wouldn't come this far to go scouting and if they were foreigners it would be highly unlikely.

Taking a closer look he saw Xena kneeling down cupping water in her palms and drinking it rapidly. He heard her breathing heavily and she washed her face three or four times. Slowly he sheathed his dagger and witnessed Xena wince as she got up from the ground. He had never seen her show any sign of weakness but it was pretty apparent that she was not feeling well and did not want to show any of her flaws in front of her men. Revealing himself from behind the tree he folded his arms and smiled as she had not yet noticed him.

Xena wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and breathed out slowly. She walked on and nearly bumped into Borias. She looked up and saw his wide grin and she frowned, crinkling her nose.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," he smile got even wider and Xena brushed passed him hitting his shoulder. He groaned as she had already left a bruise there a few days ago during their spar together.

"Xena, wait," he ran and stopped her in her tracks blocking her way out of the forest.

Xena tried to side step him but it was useless and he grabbed her shoulders with his strong hands. "Let go of me, Borias!"

"We need to talk about..." he didn't think he could even say the word.

She scoffed and forcefully pushed his hands away from her shoulders. "There is nothing to talk about. I need to get back to my men."

"Your men can wait!" he demanded and she stopped suddenly.

Xena clenched her fists becoming enraged that he would even talk to her this way. "if you talk like to that to me again, I swear I will do _a lot_ more damage than a few broken bones, Borias." Her eyes scanned up and down his body especially to one particular part of his anatomy. She started to leave again.

"So you will risk our baby's life for the sake of winning a battle?" he called out.

Xena didn't want anybody else to hear them so she turned around once again and faced him, whispering angrily, " _our_ baby? Please tell me you're not going to start acting like a father now," she questioned with dripping sarcasm and disbelief. "This isn't our baby, it's _a_ baby, and we are not a family nor are we going to become one, do you understand that?"

He didn't respond and so she nodded and stormed off back to _her_ men.

* * *

A month later Borias and Xena had not spoken to one another since their last encounter. Borias watched her from afar as she continued to command her army casually, although he could tell from her expressions and mannerisms that she was uncomfortable from time to time especially during the middle of the day. He couldn't tell if she even acknowledged that he had shown some kind of affection from afar but then again if she did, she probably didn't care.

Xena came back into her tent to sit down for awhile and she drank some water that her servant handed to her immediately upon entering. After chugging the water she handed the empty cup back to the young girl and sat down on her bed closing her eyes for a few moments.

Every day it seemed to get worse, she thought to herself. Why would anybody want to have children if they are willing to go through with this every morning? Xena had heard stories of the women becoming sick in the morning when they were pregnant but nobody told her that it could last all day every day too. This was absolutely a nightmare. She cursed herself for allowing this to happen to her. She wasn't even able to fit into her leather outfits anymore so she changed into a more comfortable attire, hoping that her men wouldn't notice her sudden wardrobe change. Winter was just around the corner and she had donned a light animal pelt and knee high boots with a brown skirt and matching tunic. She did not want to appear soft in front of her men.

Feeling her body beginning to let go she closed her eyes too long and slowly fell asleep on her bed still fully dressed in her warrior clothing.

Borias saw Xena enter her tent some time ago and never saw her come out so he decided to see for himself what the problem was. He quietly stepped into her tent and saw the servant girl jump to her feet. He smiled holding his finger to his lips to make sure the girl wouldn't utter a word.

The girl blushed and looked back to the warrior queen snoozing on the bed in a fetal position. He gestured for the girl to leave the tent and she obeyed not sure what good was going to come out of this. Borias quietly made his way to the bed and saw Xena's hair sprawled all over the pillows and her mouth slightly ajar as she was breathing heavier than usual. She must have been asleep for over an hour, he thought.

He sat next to the bed on a comfortable chair staring at her as she slept. This was probably the only time he would see her at peace. Her arm was draped over her hip and the other beneath her cheek. A piece of her long hair was resting on her cheek and he slowly brushed it away from her face causing her to stir in her sleep. He smiled watching her sleep. Even though they hadn't spoken in over a month he realized that this was the best moment he'd ever get with her.

A few hours later Xena had woken up and she rubbed her eyes and stared at someone who was sitting next to her bed. Immediately entering defense mode she quickly sat up from her comfortable position and then she realized who it was and she felt her blood boiling.

" _You_?! Who gave you permission to enter my tent, Borias? Certainly not one of my men!" she yelled.

Borias smiled, "you might want to get a new slave girl."

Xena growled, "I'll have her hide when I see her again," she got up and drank some more water. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked quietly.

"A few hours. Not to worry, Telius is in charge right now."

"A few hours!" Xena threw the wooden cup at a mirror and tried to compose herself to face her men again.

"Hey, hey, why don't you just let them handle it, they're capable. You trained them after all," he suggested and received a slap to the face. He grabbed her chin forcefully.

Xena's eyes were wild and she grabbed his arm trying to pry his hand away from her chin.

"You don't care about anyone but yourself, Xena. One day you will not be so lucky and our child will suffer for it because of your selfish behavior." He barked not caring who heard him outside her tent.

Xena spat in his face, "I don't need you or anybody else in my life!"

Borias let go of her chin and she rubbed her face with her hands. She stared at him for a long time and started to leave.

"You plan to give birth in a war zone, Xena? You can't take Corinth and raise a child."

Xena left the tent and called out behind her, "just watch me make history, Borias," she head for the hilltop.

And that is exactly what she did.

**To be continued in Part II.**


	2. Prologue Part II

**AN: this prologue will not tie into the show at all just FYI as I said before, I'm changing everything. So everything you knew about 'evil Xena' just throw it out the window lol.**

_Prologue Part II_

Xena's army sailed the Mediterranean Sea stopping in the Maghreb and Lower Egypt. Xena wanted her army posted everywhere that she decided to go to and on the way they recruited some new members from other armies. Xena's competition at the moment were the Romans and they traveled quickly and most of their greatest soldiers were based in Egypt and Greece of course. She wanted to conquer and destroy the Roman Empire as she knew Caesar was still in charge. She wanted to obliterate him as well ever since he unsuccessfully tried to kill her a few years ago. Her mission was only to take down Caesar until she met Borias, then her plans became bigger, much bigger. Caesar wanted Rome, Xena wanted the world and she was going to make sure she would have it, no matter the cost.

Their last stop was to be in Cyprus. They had been on and off ships for the last four months and Xena was growing tired of being at sea, plus it only made her feel even worse than she already felt. The sickness didn't seem to go away but it had gotten better. Xena had many ships in her fleet, but she was beginning to grow tired of having a Navy and felt it made her army weaker as they were at sea and not on the ground most of the time. Then again, she knew that having men at sea and on land would strengthen her army even further and that pleased her.

Xena was standing at the front of the ship looking at Cyprus a few miles away. They would reach land by mid afternoon and she couldn't wait to set foot on land. It had been too long since she had seen greenery.

Borias was on the ship looking at Xena from afar and as much as he wanted to be close to her he also didn't want to be near her at the same time. She seemed to have that effect on people it seemed like. He saw that she was going below the deck back to her room so he decided to follow her making sure nobody would notice, not like he cared, but her men could be so nosy sometimes.

Xena entered her room and sighed heavily as she sat down running her fingers through her long raven hair that was very wavy from the salty water. She took off her animal pelts and her fingerless gloves off. She groaned as she was feeling very uncomfortable and a little overwhelmed. She didn't want to feel the way she did, but she did, and it was something that she hated. The highlight of her day was Cyprus and she just had a few more hours until they reached land.

Borias entered the room and saw Xena was sitting on her bed cursing at herself underneath her breath, looking as if she was about to rip her hair out. He smiled at her suffering, but at the same time he didn't want her to go through everything on her own. He went behind her and started massaging her shoulders.

Xena knew the feel of those hands and she rolled her eyes, "come on now," she grabbed his hand and turned around. "Why are you still following me around, Borias?" she stared at him and she saw the concern written all over his face.

He knelt down in front of her and touched her cheek, "because I care about you, Xena and I don't want you to do something stupid while you're carrying our child." He said firmly and she pulled away from his touch.

"you don't care about me, you just want to take the baby away from me," she smiled and leaned forward coming closer to his face, "isn't that right?"

Borias sighed and stood up, "you're impossible!" aggravated at her attitude and that smile still planted on her lips.

Xena leaned back on some pillows relieving some stress from her back, "do you not think of me as mother material?" she teased.

He sat on the bed next to her and grabbed a hold of her cheeks with a firm grip. "you're a snake Xena," he hissed. "Look at you, you can barely stand for half a candlemark and you expect to take on the Roman empire?" he laughed.

She pushed his arm away and adjusted her body on the bed. "I can handle it! My men haven't noticed anything," she added defensively.

Borias shook his head and rubbed his chin, "I think they will notice once you magically appear with a baby in your arms," he added.

"are you going to lecture me or leave me in peace?" she felt a headache coming on and she winced as she felt a pain in her side.

He was about to make a snide retort but he saw that she was in pain and all those thoughts disappeared. Coming to her aide, which he knew she would turn away from, he sat on the bed with a hand on her thigh.

"What's the matter?" he scanned her body and saw the distress in her face.

Xena waved him away, "nothing, just..." she saw his hands touching her leg and now her arm, "stop touching me," slapping his hand away from her. "I'm not a doll."

A knock came to the door and Xena made the command for the person to enter. One of her younger soldiers came in and looked surprised to see Borias sitting with Xena on her bed, so close that is. He hadn't seen them together in quite some time.

"A letter from Rome, Xena." He held out the scroll.

Xena tried to reach for the scroll but she couldn't so Borias took it and she snatched it from his hands. She shot him a glare reminding herself to get him later. She opened the scroll and sighed as it was in Latin.

"Damn Romans, can't they use any other language besides Latin?" she could read Latin as she taught herself how to read it, but some words were still quite difficult for her to understand. She smiled as she finished reading the scroll and handed it back to the young man.

"Tell my men to turn around and head for Rome," she smiled deviously and the young man bowed.

"Yes, Xena," he left quickly to alert the captain to turn the ship around even though they were so close to Cyprus now. So much for land.

Borias couldn't believe what she was doing and his eyes grew in shock at the woman before him. "Are you insane?"

"Some may think so," she smiled.

He grabbed her shoulders tightly and shook her, "we are not going to Rome, Xena! You can't win there! You can win in Egypt and in Maghreb but you cannot win in Rome and I will not allow you to endanger our child anymore than you already have."

She didn't know if she felt the need to slap him or break a bone in his body, but she realized that she couldn't really do much and that is what infuriated her the most.

"Well since you seem to love the Romans so much why don't you just work with them?!" she spat at him and he let go of her slightly pushing her to the side disgusted with her attitude.

Borias didn't respond and left her room to go back to the deck and watch as her men turned back to go to Rome, which would take a few days to reach now. He didn't know how he still loved this woman after all the stunts she has pulled, but she was a good leader, he recognized that. Not always fair, but good at commanding her men and other people's men.

Xena cursed at herself. Borias could make her so angry sometimes and he defied her all the time, if he were any other man she would have had his head on a pike already. She was starting to feel that horrid pain come again and she winced as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Make it to Rome, that's all that matters right now, she told herself.

* * *

Finally reaching Rome Xena couldn't wait to get off of the ship and meet her opponent . She had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Xena had a few of her men stationed in Rome undercover of course and they provided her with horses for her and her next in commands. Xena stepped off the ship and mounted the black stallion that was given to her. Her slave girl had washed and fixed Xena's hair to make her appear a bit more civilized. She still dressed in her warrior attire of course, making sure to conceal her heavily pregnant body.

Borias rode by her side and was very weary as they rode through the Roman streets. Most of the citizens stared at them in fear and he noticed Xena kept her eyes on the gates ahead.

"Are you _sure_ you know what you're doing?" he asked uncertain of her motives for the first time.

"Shut up, Borias. I know what I am doing," she continued to ride ahead of her group of men trailing behind her. Borias shook his head and followed her unwillingly.

Arriving at the gates the men looked at that the imposing dark haired woman on the stallion and raised their eyebrows. "And who are you?"

She smiled, "My name is Xena and this is Borias," she added. "We've received an invitation from Rome himself." She waved her hand at one of her soldiers that had the scroll. The young man handed her the scroll and she gave it to the Roman officers.

They looked over the message and nodded opening the large gates. Xena felt a battle going on inside of her as the gates opened. A smile crept onto her lips as she entered the gates with her men in tow.

Borias didn't like the looks of this. He didn't know what she had planned but he knew that it wasn't good at all. He saw that they were now in headquarters of Rome and anybody who's anyone was here. Xena must be very proud of herself, he thought, but he knew that she wasn't here to talk politics. Xena wasn't a woman of political gain, she wanted power. She wanted to be ultimate destroyer of nations.

Caesar stepped out into the sunlight to see Xena riding a huge stallion in the middle of the square. He smiled at her appearance.

"You look the same as the first time I met you, Xena. Quite lovely," he smirked.

Xena returned the smile, "likewise," she said through her teeth.

Caesar looked behind her and saw a man with long black hair that was braided. "And who's this? Your new pet?" he inquired.

Borias rolled his eyes and almost said something but Xena looked at him with daggers in her eyes so he decided to remain from making any such comments.

"We're not here to talk about my personal business, Caesar. I read that you wanted to speak to me, so let's start with that," she said demandingly.

Caesar nodded, "Alright, Xena, but you come alone, no men, no tricks and no..." he looked at Borias, "pets." He winked.

Borias looked more concerned now, "Xena, a word?" he asked and Xena was trying to compose herself. "Xena," he said again in a more firm voice.

Xena bit her lip and turned around, "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" she said barely above a whisper so no one else could hear them. She moved her horse closer to his.

He looked at her then back at the Roman leader and back at her blue eyes. "You can't go by yourself, that's too dangerous. Don't do something foolish, Xena." He knew that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

For the first time in a long time she put her hand on his in comforting manner she replied, "I will ask if you can come with me, alright? But...don't say _anything_...got it?"

That answer satisfied him and he nodded allowing her to continue her conversation with Caesar.

"Have you come to a decision, Xena? What will it be?" the Roman smiled devilishly.

Xena smiled in return, "I will come unarmed, but only if you allow me to bring Borias with me. He's...he's my second in command," she lied, he was definitely much more than that.

Caesar considered her offer for a moment, actually pretending to care, but he couldn't pass this chance up so he relented. "As you wish, Xena. Shall we?" he gestured the two of them to follow him to his office.

All three of them were now in Caesar's private office. Xena sat down in a chair opposite Caesar and Borias opted to stand beside Xena, as he wasn't feeling very safe at the moment.

"So you are looking well, Xena, since the last time I saw you," referring to when he had her crucified and she actually lived. "Didn't think I'd see you alive, let alone leading an army...an army that seems to be spreading across the Mediterranean."

Xena crossed one leg over the other and toyed with her fingers in her lap smiling, trying not to strangle the man. "If that's what it takes to win Rome, I will do whatever it takes."

He nodded and admired her ambition, "it's Rome that you want? I thought this meeting was for peace," he laughed. "Xena you are no match for Rome."

She wasn't going to take no for an answer, "Rome will be mine one day, Caesar with you alive or dead."

"Is that a _threat_ against the Roman Empire?" he inquired, smirking at her rising temper. She always had a temper, he remembered.

"Doesn't have to be..." Xena bit her nail casually.

Borias could feel the tension in the room as the two grew silent for several minutes. He saw Xena shifting in the chair and watched her carefully, but made sure not to make it too noticeable as she would kill him if he spoiled her moment with the Roman.

Caesar was playing a staring game with Xena and she wasn't backing down either as she started smiling at him.

"Well," Caesar began, breaking the thick silence, "I'll make a deal with you. You promise to keep away from Rome if you allow my men to occupy some of your territories."

"Forget it, Caesar," she was not in the mood to discuss anything with him. She really just wanted to slit his throat at this very moment.

He chuckled and looked at Borias, "what do you think?" he asked the 'pet'.

Xena looked up at Borias and dared him to utter a word.

He looked at Xena then back to Caesar, "whatever Xena decides I'll follow her," he swallowed those horrible words, although it wasn't all false. He wanted to be with her all the time, especially since she was carrying their child, but he never got the chance to actually talk to her about the three of them, they were a trio now. In his mind they were. The time was nearing and time was not on their side.

Xena looked satisfied with his answer and she turned to look at Caesar again, "so," she began, "we have come to realization that I will not surrender to your 'empire'. What now?" she leaned back in the chair trying to get more comfortable.

Caesar rested his chin on his palm, "what's that matter, Xena? You look unwell," he noticed her paled face, pretending to care.

She didn't let the Roman faze her, "just the sight of this place makes me feel unwell," she smiled.

"Some wine perhaps?" he gestured the servant to come serve her but she refused. "Afraid I might poison you, Xena?" he raised a brow as he sipped from his glass.

"Something on your mind, Caesar? I know my men would _never_ betray me..." she smirked allowing her words to dig beneath his skin.

Ignoring her last comment he continued on as he a lot of things to attend to today, "back to business. So your army –"

"Empire," she corrected him.

"...has been spreading across Egypt, the Maghreb, Greece and Mesopotamia. I have men in all those places as well. So we need to make a deal, our armies could work together...Xena and Caesar, doesn't that sound nice?"

Xena frowned, "right. Because that worked out so well the last time. Answer is no, Caesar," she got up from the chair and was ready to leave as this was getting nowhere.

"Fine Xena. Have it your way! I will crush your empire one day," he called out as he saw her leave.

"If you live that long," she yelled back.

Borias followed Xena back to the horses at the gate and gently set a hand upon her shoulder, "are you alright?"

Xena patted his hand, "Caesar always upsets me, don't worry about me. Focus on the plan." She mounted her horse and took off on a slow trot with her men behind her. Borias watched as she rode away and he didn't even know the plan and he knew that she was lying about being alright. She didn't even answer his question, he noticed. He shook his head and mounted the horse following Xena's army back to their campsite they were making near the Sea.

* * *

Later that evening Xena was in her tent with her servant and the girl was trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

"Maybe you should lay down?" the girl timidly suggested.

Xena winced from the pain in her lower abdomen, "no! I am fine," she slowed her breathing, "I need to be focused." She added with pain dripping from her lips.

The sun was gone now and candles were lit inside Xena's tent and torches were lit in the campsite. Talius entered Xena's tent and she was on the edge of her bed hanging her head and hiding behind her veil of black hair.

"Um...is this a bad time?" he said before proceeding.

Xena heard her soldier's voice and lifted her head, "no..." she managed to say. "What do you need?"

"I thought I'd let you know that some of our men have secretly been spying for Caesar for months and there may be a possible attack from the Romans soon." He said with worry of his commander and the army.

Xena did not want to hear this news, not right now. "Who are they?"

"I...I don't know," he admitted ashamed of himself.

"Then _why_ come in here to tell me if you do not even..." she moaned in agony.

Talius just stared utterly confused at what was going on. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked the slave girl.

She nodded, "could you stay with her for a few minutes? I need to grab a few things from the ship." Before he could answer she already left the tent, assuming he would do as he was told. Talius looked at the exit of the tent and then to his leader who was in tremendous pain.

"Is there something I can do for you...Xena?" he looked at her but she wasn't even aware that he was talking to her. Sweat dripped down her cheeks and forehead.

He knelt down to get closer to her and she grabbed his tunic and brought him closer to her. "There...there is something...you can do for me," she managed to say.

"A-a-anything," he trembled slightly.

"Bring me the heads of those who betrayed me, then..." she winced, "and _then_...bring me Caesar's heart." she breathed heavily and Talius looked at her and nodded rapidly. She let go of his tunic and leaned back on the bed.

Talius left Xena's tent and warned the men about the possible attack and gave them orders to scout the area for the moles.

* * *

A couple of hours passed by and it was dark now. Xena was inside her tent passed out ever since she drank a tea to calm her body down from the intense pain. Her slave girl attended to her for the last few hours and it had not been easy to make Xena stay in one place but it seems all things are possible. That, and, she couldn't move beyond two feet without doubling over in pain.

A loud noise was heard from outside and the young girl looked around and saw a flaming arrow had pierced the roof of the tent and was now going up in flames slowly. She panicked and tried to wake Xena up from her daze but she was dead to the world. She knew that she wouldn't be able to move her as she was too heavy for her.

Borias saw flaming arrows being shot into the campsite as he was near the sea. The first thing he thought about was Xena and he hadn't seen her since their encounter with Caesar. He ran towards her tent and saw it was on fire.

Upon entering he saw the slave girl pacing back and forth and slapping Xena's cheek lightly.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked stroking Xena's hair and she stirred as she lay on the bed.

"The pain was too strong for her so I gave her something for it but I didn't think she was going to be out for this long!" the girl said panicking even more.

Borias kissed the top of Xena's head and lifted her into his arms, "we need to leave, right now," he felt Xena moving in his arms and she groaned softly. "Don't worry Xena, we're leaving."

He carried her outside and saw that the battle was spreading and the Romans had now moved to hand to hand combat along with catapults. He sighed and continued on dodging some arrows coming their way. He followed the girl in front of him and they had reached a Roman wagon that was abandoned by one of the Roman soldiers.

"A Roman wagon? Are you insane, girl?" he yelled.

Xena had awoken now and she started opening her eyes and saw Borias above her, "what...Borias? What...what is this?" she looked around at the awesome fire before her. Her camp, her men, her tents, everything destroyed. Her eyes widened as she saw everything she created gone in a flash. All she could think of was Caesar..he did this to her _again_. Her thoughts of Caesar soon vanished as the tea was wearing off and she could feel the pains coming back once again.

Borias laid her down on the wagon and he was going to take the reins of the horse until he felt Xena grab his wrist. He looked back at her helpless face.

"Don't leave...stay with me," she pleaded.

Oh he had heard those words before, but this time it wasn't a sinful play at emotions, she was being genuine as it was obvious she was in no state to play mind games.

The young girl spoke up, "I can take the reins, I know how to ride."

Borias looked at the girl not believing her one bit, but he didn't really have a choice. He nodded and the slave girl went to the front of the wagon.

Borias sat with her brushing her bangs from her sweaty forehead. "I told you that you couldn't take Rome," he teased and kissed her hand. She was about to comment but he received a very audible scream instead and his eyes widened. He had never heard her scream like that.

They had traveled far enough from the battle grounds and the girl started a fire immediately. Borias was still with Xena but now they were on animal skins on the ground close to the fire.

The girl had already set everything up for Xena as the time was definitely near for her to finally give birth to her baby.

"Okay..Xena, I want you to sit up and try to relax," the girl trembled with her words. She feared the warrior queen but she was the only one here that could help her as she doubted Borias knew what to do. He just supported Xena's weight as he sat behind her.

"Ready?" the girl asked.

"I can't," Xena groaned.

"Yes you can, I promise you'll be fine," the girl reassured her master. Xena nodded and looked to grab something and she held Borias' hand.

Borias could feel his bones in his hand popping as Xena began to squeeze harder and harder the longer this went on.

"How much longer?" Borias asked, now worried about his fingers breaking at some point.

The girl smiled, "not too much longer, you can do it Xena."

Several moments later it was no longer Xena's screams being heard but now the screams of a baby. Xena let go of Borias' hand and he completely forgot about the pain in his hand as he looked at the baby, his baby, their baby for the first time.

Xena felt completely drained after that and she felt like she wanted to pass out but suddenly her slave girl handed her the baby wrapped in a wool blanket found in the wagon. She looked at him a little frightened. She had never seen something so delicate in her life. Something so small and fragile appeared to be the scariest thing in the world to her. She could fight warlords and destroy villages, but a baby could stop her in her tracks.

Borias looked at the baby and Xena's face was priceless, she looked scared. "It's a boy," he said and she remained fixated on the small human in her arms.

"What am I going to do with him?" Xena was more asking herself than anything.

"What do you mean?" Borias asked her, very confused.

Xena stared at her son her eyes filling with tears, "I can't keep him Borias. If...if others know that I – _we_ have a son, he will be hunted for the rest of his life."

He was now understanding why she was so distressed, but they couldn't just get rid of the baby either.

"I will take him Xena. I am only known in Asia and I have not been there in many moons they have no idea where I am now."

Xena was starting to feel more protective now, "no!" she said firmly, "I mean...no, that's too risky." She stared at the child in her arms feeling sorry for him knowing that she couldn't keep him. "He can't be with me, he can't know about me Borias. He can't know anything." She handed the baby to Borias and he carefully held their son in his arms.

"Take him away from me, I don't want to see him anymore," Xena said as silent tears streamed down her face.

Borias saw Xena's tears fall and he took their son and walked away. He had the perfect plan for their son, a plan that Xena will not know about. He will not know anything just as she wants, Borias thought.

**End prologue. To be continued fifteen years later in Chapter 1!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: There are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter just for some information. Like I said not your typical conqueror story. Feedback is much appreciated :D**

_Chapter 1_

Xena had been watching her army train and fight for many years now, but she was growing tired of watching them make the same mistakes over and over again. Whenever this happened she personally punished them with a whip she kept close to her hip at all times. Every morning was the same routine as she sat on a terrace in her home watching the men train below her in the training grounds. Her maids attended her, giving her fruits, olives, bread and water every morning. She had grown accustom to such accommodations over the years.

Xena's name was known across the globe and it had only taken her fifteen years to build an empire that rivaled against Rome. She loved that Caesar was out of the picture, but she had only wished she were the one that killed him instead of Brutus.

As she was overlooking the training sessions she scoffed as she saw one of her men fumble against a newcomer. She stood up leaning over the railing.

"You!" she called out to the young man who had just fallen. He looked up in fear as he saw Xena standing on her terrace with a not-so-happy look on her face.

"Yes, mistress?" he answered with a strong voice, trying to mask his fear of the warrior queen.

Mistress, I kind of like that, she thought. "Are you not skilled with a sword?" she asked smiling at the boy. He looked no older than twenty summers.

"Well...I am more skilled with a bow and arrow," he answered.

Xena started laughing and took a bite of a pomegranate, "you amuse me. Bring him to my room after I finish my meeting," she smiled at the boy and turned to leave the terrace handing the fruit to her maid.

She waltzed inside of her home which was stationed in Athens. She had many homes throughout the Mediterranean when she visited those areas. In her office there were many letters that she had yet to read and send back, but that always stressed her out. Being in charge of many territories was very difficult as she had found out over the years. Sighing she sat down and started reading the scrolls that were on top of the large pile.

Propping her feet on the desk trying to get comfortable as she was now on her fifth scroll and they were petty demands that she simply ignored. Sighing loudly she suddenly heard a knock on her door.

"Come," she said loudly and the giant wooden doors opened and it was her treasurer by the name of Julian.

"My queen, you wanted to come to the city to look at some new recruits this afternoon," he reminded her as the time was nearing for them to leave.

Xena let her feet down and put down the scroll, happy to leave. "You know how much I enjoy finding new recruits, Julian," she grinned and grabbed her cape wrapping it around her broad shoulder plates. She was fully dressed in her black leather attire with silver armor overlaying the leathers.

It was rare that she left her home to go out to get more men to train in her army, but she did not feel like reading all of those scrolls today, any day but today. She grabbed her helmet and put it on, shielding her eyes from all her men. She mounted her horse and led the way as a few of her best men followed behind along with her treasurer.

She rarely went into the city as she preferred to stay away from prying eyes of her people. They feared her and Xena relished in this every moment but sometimes it was boring to go inside the city. She usually sent people to handle things for her such as delivering messages back and forth to Rome for her and she had someone _special_ to deliver messages to Borias. Xena didn't know where he was but she made sure she found a guy that kept a good eye on his location for her. They hadn't seen each other in fifteen years and she wanted to keep it that way as she didn't need or want any distractions in her life. She let Borias take their son away from her and Xena sent messages to him every now and then to ask how he and their son, Solan, was doing. Xena had asked Borias to name him Solan as it was the first name that came to her mind on the day she said goodbye to both of them.

Xena got her wish in asking Borias to keep Solan far away from her and not let him know anything about her coming from his lips. She didn't want her son to know who she was for safety reasons, but she had always wondered what he looked like now.

Finally inside the city Xena's eyes scanned around the market and everyone stared up at her on her giant black horse as she trotted through the small alleyway. She smiled as she neared the fine specimen in front of her she got off the horse and took off her helmet. She needed new men for her army and wanted to come and pick them out for herself so they could train to become the greatest warriors.

She grabbed one of the men's chins and inspected his face. She frowned, "open your mouth," she demanded.

He did as commanded and she looked at his white teeth and nodded, "appears that you are quite healthy. Take him," she snapped her fingers to her men. They immediately grabbed him and chained his wrists together. Xena kept walking down the line of men and walked passed someone very short and then her boots scrapped on the sand as she came to a halt. She turned her heels and slowly walked back to the short person and bent down lifting his chin.

She smiled as she saw it was not a man at all but a _woman_ with her hair cropped short and dressed in a long tunic. The girl looked into Xena's eyes and she did not flinch, not even once. Xena's grin widened as she stared more at the young blonde woman in front of her.

"I'd like to have this one," she said examining the girl's body.

The seller frowned, "but that's a woman. She will be of no use to you, mistress."

Xena frowned, "I said I want her. I will give you..." she considered the girl's price, "ten dinars for her," she shrugged.

Xena's advisor came up to her and whispered, "why did you buy her?"

"I have my reasons, just be sure that she gets cleaned up when we get back. I'm going to stay in the city for awhile," she donned her helmet and mounted her horse.

His eyes widened, Xena never wanted to stay in the city, "I will let two men accompany you," he suggested but she held her hand up.

"No. I will go alone, I don't need protection," she reassured him and trotted off.

The young blonde woman looked at Xena as she rode on her horse deeper into the city exiting the alleyway. She frowned at the warrior queen, she knew about Xena since she was very young. She had heard many stories about her and everyone despised Xena even though she was the ruler of most of the Mediterranean. Xena conquered her village when she was a young teenager and she remembered the first time she saw her, covered in all black wearing a bright red cape and her hair in a high ponytail with paint on her face. She was truly a sight to see, a terror to children and all around her.

Xena's men pushed her into a cart and her eyes remained focused on Xena trotting away on her giant horse. Her horse seemed just as menacing as her she noticed. The blonde thought of the time when she was barely a teenager and saw Xena riding through her village like a wild savage.

* * *

She was around twelve summers old when she first laid eyes on the conqueror woman. She watched afar behind a tree watching her yell at her men and slashing innocents with the sharp end of her sword and smiling like a mad woman as if it was some kind of game to her. The conqueror's long black shiny hair whipped around every time she wielded her sword from side to side as she sat on her horse.

The young teen was able to get an up close look at the warrior queen once she dismounted her horse and walked with her sword in hand smiling at the village she had just destroyed with ease. She was about a few feet away from her and at that moment the raven haired conqueror looked at her with those piercing blue eyes. Feeling a bit of fear inside she thought she should turn away and run, but if she did that then she would become a target and probably die.

Xena bent down and smiled at the young blonde girl, brushing the backside of her hand on her cheek in a sick _loving_ manner. Her fingers were covered in many gold and silver rings some large, some small. The cold metal made her flinch as her the rings grazed her skin.

Her smile was enticing but frightening at the same time. The black kohl that lined her blue eyes didn't help either, it really seemed as if she was staring into your soul, sucking the life out of it slowly. The young girl couldn't help but stare back with a gaping mouth, shocked of course.

"I thought I told you to get the children out of here," Xena's smile disappeared as she stared up at one of her commanders.

He was about to answer but then Xena just sighed and dismissed him, drawing her attention back to the young blonde in front of her.

"What is your name?" the conqueror woman asked of her.

The teen felt her stomach drop as the woman spoke with a very eerie smile on her red lips. "Gabrielle..." she said barely above a whisper.

"Gabrielle," Xena hissed, "what a _lovely_ name," she stared at the girl intensely then stood up and walked away heading back to her horse and her men followed behind her.

One of her commanders stared back at the shocked blonde girl, "aren't we going to do something with her, mistress?"

Xena shrugged her shoulders, "I spared her life, isn't that enough?" she mounted her stallion. "She will probably be sold into slavery or something of the sort." She stared back at the girl, "such a shame," she sighed, "her village should have complied with my rules," she screamed her famous war cry and rode off with her men following.

Yes, Gabrielle remembered her _perfectly_ and now she was the conqueror's property. Everyone's hell, she thought. She had heard stories of people getting whipped to death by Xena, and she didn't doubt that she wasn't capable of that kind of torture. As she rode in the cart with the other men the conqueror had chosen she was almost tempted to get out and run but now she had the chance, the chance to seek revenge on the warrior queen. She had waited a very long time to do this.

* * *

Xena rode into the city, scaring off many villagers in her path and she barely even acknowledged their existence. Outside of the city she got off her horse and walked the rest of the way holding onto the reins. She came to the edge of a large forest where there was an old abandoned castle ruins. Tying her horse's reins to a nearby tree she walked inside of the ruins and went to one of the walls, removing a loose stone revealing a scroll.

She grabbed it quickly and unraveled it reading it rapidly. She smiled as she read the scroll and her mind was at ease now. She told the messenger to leave messages from Borias in this exact spot when she didn't want them coming to her home in Athens because she was paranoid. He had sent word that Solan was doing well in school and his fifteenth birthday was nearing, which she already knew. Every year she had wondered what Solan did on his birthday and what kind of friends he had, but she always had to keep those thoughts in the back of her mind. Xena wasn't even sure if Borias told Solan that he was his father, but she preferred not to know, all that mattered to her was that he was safe. Rolling the scroll back up she tucked it in her leather pants and went back for her horse to return to her home in the capital.

* * *

Gabrielle was taken into a bathing area where she was stripped completely naked and washed thoroughly by a couple of female maids she assumed. They washed her hair with lavender scented soap and oils and dried her with really soft towels. She wasn't used to having this kind of treatment and the maids cleaning her definitely noticed the wounds on her legs and upper arms, but chose not to comment or let their eyes linger for long.

The maids lead her down a very long hallway and she saw two giant iron doors at the end of the never-ending hallway. The hallway must have been at least one hundred feet high decorated in white marble and had several marble columns wrapped with red silk fabric. The iron doors made the end of the hallway look very menacing especially when she saw two male guards struggling to open the doors and the loud creaking noise it made only echoed in the marble hall. She peered inside and saw the conqueror woman sitting in a large chair smiling at her, staring directly in her eyes.

Xena stood up walking over to Gabrielle and circled her, "leave us," she waved to the maidens. The large doors were closed and she stared into Gabrielle's green eyes. "You clean up nicely."

Gabrielle chose not to say anything and watched as the raven haired queen circled her slowly taking in every moment.

"So," Xena unsheathed her dagger from her hip and came to face the blonde, "tell me your name," she grinned licking her lips as she held the dagger very close to Gabrielle's chest. Her eyes grew with excitement as she saw fear in the blonde's eyes.

Gabrielle didn't want to spark any memories for the warrior queen, although she doubted that she would remember a little girl from Potidaea. She felt the dagger come into contact with her skin and she looked down then back at Xena's creepy smile.

"Zehra," Gabrielle answered with as much as confidence as possible.

Xena nodded and circled the blonde once more, "you do not _appear_ to be Persian."

"People come in many different colors," Gabrielle retorted bluntly.

Xena's smile disappeared and she kicked the back of the girl's knees causing her to immediately fall to the floor. "I didn't ask you to speak, you are my slave now! You don't talk back to me!" she yelled, then picked up the girl by her arm bringing her to a standing position. "I'm your master, you're the slave, do you understand that?" she held the dagger close to Gabrielle's throat staring intensely into her green eyes.

Gabrielle nodded at the warrior queen and she received a smile in response.

"Very good," Xena said walking over to her chair sitting down comfortably, "so what are your skills, what can you do?" she struck her dagger into a pear taking a bite out of it as she casually let one of her legs hang over the side of the chair's arms. She smiled at the blonde, "you can speak now, little one. I don't bite... _hard_."

Gabrielle didn't know what to say, she didn't really have any skills. "I know how to fight, that's all I'm good at."

Xena's eyebrow raised, "you? You're half the size of me, and you know how to fight?" she laughed. "Don't make me laugh little one."

"After a warlord," she looked directly at Xena as she was still eating her pear, "destroyed my village I went to another village that was run by Romans and learned how to fight there..."

Xena's eyes widened and she felt the anger swelling inside of her as the blonde mentioned the word Romans. They had screwed her over so many times and yet she had still not conquered Rome after fifteen years of ruling.

"Did you say Romans?" she hissed.

Gabrielle didn't know if she was supposed to answer this question so just nodded her head for confirmation.

Xena now smiled deviously, "interesting." I could use this girl to my advantage, Xena said to herself. "So," she spit out the seeds from the pear's core, "no other skills?"

"No, not really. I have a question," Gabrielle started, "your highness."

The raven haired queen smiled, she is a brave one, she thought. I will have a special place for her. "I don't normally let slaves ask me questions, but just this once I'll let you ask, only because you intrigue me. Go ahead, little one."

Gabrielle was feeling even more nervous than when she started training with the Romans for the first time. "Why did you buy me?"

Xena stood up and walked over to the girl with the dagger twirling in her hand. She was now very close to the blonde.

"Do you know what happens behind these castle doors, little one? Do you know the stories told about this place? _Do_ _you_...?" Xena smiled as her words slithered off her tongue like a snake.

Gabrielle wasn't sure if it was safe to answer so she stayed quiet this time, not feeling comfortable around her especially with a dagger in her hand. She knew Xena was a very skilled warrior and she didn't think she could disarm her fast enough.

"Answer me!" Xena yelled.

"No, I don't..." Gabrielle said cautiously watching Xena out of the corner of her eye as she continued to circle her like a vulture.

Xena touched the blonde's hair gingerly, "perhaps you will find out soon enough...you say you can fight. I want you to train with my men. If you can _handle_ it of course, then perhaps I will put you to good use..." Xena had a perfect idea in mind.

Gabrielle felt the memories of her village being destroyed by this woman coming back to her once again and she wanted to punch this woman in the face, but she knew that if she attacked she'd never see daylight again. Although she didn't like the way Xena was sounding right now, she inwardly smiled at the challenge.

Xena left the blonde's side and pursed her lips, "well," she sighed, "I have a lot of work to do. One of my maids will show you where you will sleep tonight then tomorrow you will sleep somewhere else." She said casually.

A few minutes later Gabrielle was shown to her room which was on the opposite side of the castle. She memorized the layout of the castle she had seen so far and knew exactly where Xena's office was, which was the place she was just in. The room she was in was very large and had a nice view of the mountains and she could see a small market outside the castle, but it was miles away. It seemed that Xena liked to be secluded from everyone else. Gabrielle didn't like the clothes she was wearing, it barely covered her body.

Feeling exhausted she laid down closing her eyes and trying to sleep but she remained awake as her memories haunted her.

* * *

Xena had arrived that day with hundreds of men in tow and they rode in casually into Potidaea. She had black and silver plated armor on with long black gloves, a red cape and her hair was braided into two long braids that reached her hips.

Gabrielle saw the warrior woman as she attended to the garden in front of her home. She was an imposing figure, she had heard stories about the warrior but never expected her to be so gorgeous in person.

Xena came riding in through the middle of the town. "Who is in charge here?" she yelled out.

An elderly man came forth and looked up at the tall raven haired warrior who was towering over him upon her horse.

"I am, who are you?"

"I'm Xena. I wrote a letter to every city in this surrounding area suggesting that they surrender under my command."

The elderly man scoffed, "you're just like every other warlord here. They always get run down by other warlords."

Xena growled, "you will surrender to me or face the consequences. I will give you until tomorrow to decide," she turned and trotted off with her men.

Gabrielle's younger sister tugged on her skirt and frowned, "who is that lady, Gabrielle?"

"her name is Xena, she's a warrior queen," she explained to her little sister.

"she's pretty scary, don't you think so?" Lila stated.

Gabrielle always tried to see the good in everyone so she didn't like to think everyone was evil and she had heard stories about the warrior queen, but she didn't believe everything.

"Yeah, she's a little scary," she smiled at her sister. "Don't worry nothing will happen to us."

The following day Xena appeared with her hair in a high ponytail with her bangs slicked back and kohl lining her eyes making her more imposing than usual. She had no intention of discussing negotiations with these people as she had told them yesterday. She knew they weren't going to agree with her.

Loud horns were sounded throughout the village and Gabrielle woke up and looked out the window to see Xena and hundreds of men at the top of the hill and with her in the middle of the line.

Xena's war cry could be heard from miles away and she lead her army into the village. She had a bow and she aimed four arrows at anybody in her way as her horse sped up going downhill. Gabrielle watched in horror as the warrior queen and her army made their way into her village. She woke up her sister.

"Lila we need to leave right now!" she shook her sister trying to wake her up.

Xena looked around and grabbed her saber from her sheath and stabbed some men trying to attack from below her horse. "Leave nothing! Kill them all!" she yelled out to her men. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a little brunette girl standing aside watching her with shock and ultimate fear. Xena smiled at the girl and rode towards her scooping her up in her arms with the saber still in hand.

She rode to the outskirts of the village and set the girl down, "get out of here," she told the girl and she wasn't moving, "GO!" she screamed and finally the little girl ran.

"Leave the women and children," she yelled out to her men, "but kill the men who resist," she rode on throughout the village shooting arrows at the helpless villagers.

Gabrielle's sister managed to wake up but Gabrielle wasn't in the room. Lila walked outside and saw that tall woman on her horse shooting arrows at people. Xena turned around and saw a frightened Lila before her. She stared at her for a long time then rode off to the hill top to catch some runaways. Lila ran back inside to find Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! That scary lady is outside and..."

"Lila we need to get out of here right away!" Gabrielle took a hold of her sister's hand and jumped out their window. Their parents were nowhere to be found right now. They were stopped by one of Xena's soldiers and their eyes grew with fear.

"You're not supposed to be out here!" he said loudly throughout all the screaming and crying in the background. "Get out of here!" he told them

Gabrielle and Lila ran the other way trying to dodge everybody in their way. Lila's eyes couldn't be torn away from the horror before her. All her friends were being killed right in front of her and she couldn't do anything about it. They stopped behind a large tree and Lila still looked at her once called home.

Gabrielle shielded her sister's eyes, "don't look Lila. Okay I want you to stay here and don't go anywhere. I'm going to find mother and father, understand?"

Lila nodded her head and Gabrielle left her side and crept behind houses to see if she could find her parents if she still had parents. She scanned the battlefield and saw Xena coming into the village dragging two men behind her and then she held her saber at a man's neck. A neck that she surely recognized –it was her father. Gabrielle wanted to run out to him, but she knew if she did this she would probably die and she cared about Lila too much to risk her life and leave her sister. Xena's sword plunged through her father's torso and she kicked his body to release her bloody sword.

Gabrielle covered her mouth and now she couldn't get the image out of her head. She ran back to the tree where she left Lila, breathing heavily she hurried back to find Lila gone. She started to panic and call out to her sister but with all the chaos it was useless. She decided to wait behind the tree for the battle to be over, she covered her ears at the sounds.

What seemed like an eternity later, there was dead silence besides the horses' galloping retreating back to the hill tops. Gabrielle looked out at the battlefield and saw Xena was rounding up her men and she spotted her hiding behind a tree. Gabrielle feared this woman, but at the same time she hated her for killing her family, her friends and Gods' knows what happened to Lila.

"Come out little one, I won't bite," Xena reassured the young girl with a deceitful smile and wild eyes.

* * *

As the memories flooded Gabrielle's mind she suddenly got up retrieving the dagger from her beneath her gown and crept out of her room.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 2_

Gabrielle crept down the halls trying to avoid the guards, but it almost seemed impossible as Xena had this place guarded very well. She hid behind a large column watching two guards chatting away casually walking through the long hallway. She quickly went to the other side of the hall and then began to hear very audible laughter. Following the noise she glued herself to the wall and used her expert hearing to pinpoint the laughing. She saw a room with the door slightly ajar and she tip toed towards peeking through the crack of the door.

What she saw was the conqueror herself sitting and laughing with a few men at a table. She was drinking some kind of wine, of course, Gabrielle rolled her eyes. She took a good look at those men and didn't really recognize them with their style of clothing. They looked very Asian and not Greek at all like the conqueror's clothes. Gabrielle's eyes narrowed as she saw Xena passing a few scrolls around the table, wondering what it could be she listened very carefully trying to hear if they talked about them.

"Hey!" a guard shouted at Gabrielle and she froze and saw the conqueror's eyes revert to the door instantly peering at the dark shadow lurking at the door.

Xena's eyes narrowed and she set her wine glass down and walked slowly towards the door. Gabrielle made a quick decision and started to run down the long hallways allowing the guards to chase her around tight corners. She kept running, although she didn't know how she was going to get out of this one, the castle soon became a maze and now she didn't remember the map of the castle imprinted in her mind anymore.

Xena came out of the dining hall and scanned the hallway for any intruders then she closed the doors behind her smiling at her guests.

"What was that about?" one of the men asked.

She smiled, "oh nothing my guards can't handle. I'm sure I will hear about it later," she came to sit down and sipped from her wine glass. "So our _agreement_ boys?" her smile becoming more scheming as she relaxed more in her chair.

"How do I know that you won't just rape and pillage my territories, Xena?" one of the younger men questioned.

Xena smiled at the young man, "because Ming T'ien your mother and I have an alliance and she knows I would never do that to her beloved country, but _you_ seem to believe I am lying...do you not?" she winked at the boy, eating a few grapes as she stared intensely at the young man before her.

Ming T'ien returned the stare, not backing down until Xena averted her gaze elsewhere. He never liked Xena and could never understand why his mother was so fond of her in the first place. Xena had come to Chin many years ago with Borias and they parted ways with Lao Ma on not-so-good terms, but years later Xena was able to make amends with Lao Ma and became even better friends than before. Ming T'ien had better ideas when it came to ruling, now with his father dead and out of the way he was the ruler the Ming Dynasty opposite Lao Dynasty. Ming T'ien was grateful that Xena had killed his father because now he was the tyrannical ruler of the Dynasty. His mother, still alive, unfortunately, was the empress of the opposing dynasty. He had only met his mother a few times, but he knew that he would never ally with her in the coming years. He wanted to rule all of Chin and greater Asia, but that plan would fail if Xena were to go through with this deal.

Xena and these men were talking amongst themselves for hours discussing the decree that Xena had explained to them. She wanted territorial control over Asia Minor, the Far East and the lower end of Chin. Although Chin was special to her and she wanted to keep a good relationship with Lao Ma and her son, Ming T'ien, especially him.

"So," Xena began as she relaxed in her chair, "what have you? Will you agree or not?"

* * *

Gabrielle found a place to hide but she wasn't sure it was such a good idea to hide here anymore. She was in a small dark room that was lit by candles. As she looked around she found a small bed, some bread and a vase of water. Slowly she crept around with the dagger still in her hand. She was limping as she had hurt her ankle earlier trying to run away from Xena's guards.

She sat on the bed massaging her ankle and suddenly a hand grabbed her and by instinct she grabbed the person's wrist and flipped the body over onto the ground in front of her.

"Who are you?" Gabrielle asked holding the dagger to the back of the person's head. It was a girl with wavy blonde hair. "I asked you a question," she demanded in a stern voice.

The woman's face turned and looked up at Gabrielle. She stood up and folded her arms, "I think I should be asking you what you're doing in my room. Don't you have a room for yourself?" she asked in a shy voice.

Gabrielle slowly lowered the dagger and stared at the woman who seemed rather shy and timid. She got off the girl's bed and apologized. "Sorry, I was just..."

The woman stared at her waiting for an answer, but Gabrielle didn't want to say she was trying to kill Xena or potentially harm her especially to one of her servants.

"...just –never mind. Sorry to bother you," Gabrielle wasn't making an effort to make an exit so she awkwardly stood at the door with the woman's brown eyes blinking and staring at her.

"So why do you have a dagger with you? Planning to kill someone? Me, perhaps?" she smiled.

Gabrielle cracked the first smile since she got here, "no I was...I...I always carry a dagger with me, everywhere I go." She nodded trying to convince herself of the lie more than the woman before her.

"So what's your name?" the blonde asked Gabrielle.

She was contemplating on whether to tell this woman her real name or not, but she didn't know if she could trust her. "My name is Zehra," she used her fake name still not trusting this woman enough yet.

"My name is Callisto, how long have you been a slave to the conqueror?" she asked quietly.

Gabrielle really didn't like that word slave. She was so close to going into that dining room to attack Xena, but it obviously was not meant to be because she was here and not killing Xena.

"Well I arrived yesterday, but I'm not a slave." Gabrielle pointed out sternly.

"Everyone is a slave in the conqueror's manor, my friend," she smiled sadly.

Gabrielle didn't know what to say to this woman, she was rather thin and had looked like she had been through a lot in her short life. She didn't want to be stuck in here for the rest of the evening, but at the same time she was sure Xena's guards were stomping around trying to find her.

"So Xena's guards they are..." Gabrielle began.

"Don't you _ever_ call her that," Callisto put a hand over Gabrielle's mouth hushing her instantly.

Gabrielle was slightly taken aback by Callisto's behavior. "But that is her name isn't it?" she whispered looking very confused now.

The thin blonde nodded her head, "but you can't call her that. Only call her mistress, my queen, lady or lord conqueror, not by her real name, okay?" she touched Gabrielle's shoulder.

Gabrielle didn't understand the apprehension here, Xena wasn't _all that_ , she thought. She stayed in her castle most of the time now instead of going out to conquer. She let other people conquer her territories now, she wasn't afraid of her anymore like she was when she was twelve. Suddenly she heard footsteps, very loud footsteps coming down the marble hall.

Xena marched down the hall in her maroon gown and heels with a few guards behind her. She pointed down the left hall, "you go that way, and you," she pointed to the right hall, "that way. I will find that wretched slave myself," she frowned and marched down the middle hall.

She heard some chattering and her heels came to a halt and she listened keenly to the small sounds coming from down a smaller hallway in this quarter. She turned and slowly walked towards the noises.

Gabrielle held her breath as she heard the clicking of Xena's heels nearing this very room. Callisto was able to hide her in a secret exit of the room. She only hoped that wouldn't be hurt because of her.

Xena opened the door and saw the blonde slave girl on her bed sewing a skirt. "Were you talking to somebody in here?" she questioned.

Callisto looked around, "nobody is here, my queen, just me," she smiled.

Xena nodded and came into the room making her way around the small room looking around very carefully. Her heels clicked against the stone flooring echoing off the walls. She came to one of the walls and grazed it with her fingertips picking up some dirt residue on her fingers.

Gabrielle knew that she was standing in front of the wall she was hiding behind so she didn't make any noise at all. She heard the conqueror's heels move away from the wall as the sound became more dim.

"These walls are filthy, have someone come and clean them tomorrow," Xena demanded then turned to leave the room. "Oh and, if you see a blonde slave girl, will you alert one of the guards?" she smiled.

Callisto nodded, "of course, your highness," she saw Xena leave and she let out an audible sigh of relief.

Gabrielle came out of hiding and was starting to feel claustrophobic in that small space. "What did she say?"

Callisto didn't want to tell her what Xena had said so she just remained quiet, "nothing, she just told me to clean the walls."

Gabrielle raised her eyebrow at this. She couldn't stay in here forever but at the same time she didn't want to be caught either. She needed to make it back to her room before Xena did.

"listen I need to leave, but um..." she smiled, "thanks for all your help, you didn't have to do this for me. I will come back to see you, I promise," she didn't wait for a reply and left the room scanning both ends of the hall before making a run for it.

Callisto watched her leave and knew that Xena wasn't going to cut her any slack when she was found. Foolish girl, she thought.

* * *

Xena walked down the hall furiously looking for that slave girl, Zehra, but she hadn't found anything that lead her to her prize.

Gabrielle saw Xena at the end of the hall and her heart stopped and her body froze. She saw the warrior queen stop in her tracks and look around the large area almost like she was sniffing her out. She slowly crept close to the wall and ran the other way.

Xena could hear footsteps and she smiled casually making her way down a separate hallway that ultimately lead to the main hall. I will find you little one, she made sure of that. I will _find_ you.

Gabrielle made sure to keep quiet as she trekked down the hallway. Her heart was racing a hundred miles an hour as she felt Xena nearing, although she couldn't hear her heels anymore she knew that she was close by as she felt her skin crawling. She rounded a corner and looked behind her but found only a hall lit by torches and fire glistening on the marble. She breathed heavily and continued onward.

Xena's smile grew as she could feel the girl coming closer and closer to her. I have you now, little one. She rounded a corner and could hear footsteps from the neighboring hallway. Just a little closer now little one, she grinned.

Gabrielle looked behind her and then she bumped into something or rather _someone_ as her eyes glanced up to see a rather dolled up conqueror staring down at her.

Xena gritted her teeth and lifted up the small woman by her neck and held her up a few inches off the floor. " _Foolish_ girl, you think you can come here and try to attack me? Who do you think you are?" She spat in Gabrielle's face.

Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand trying to free herself from her tight grip, but doing so only made the conqueror's hold tighten even more. She gasped for air and she could see Xena's smile widen and suddenly she was released and dropped to the floor coughing.

Xena kicked the blonde in her gut and she was knocked to the floor and then she kicked her again so was now rolled over onto her back. Placing her heel on top of the girl's throat she smiled.

"Don't ever cross me again, little one," she put a bit of pressure onto her neck, the heel digging into Gabrielle's collarbone. She grabbed the dagger from the girl's grasp, "where did you get this?" she asked still digging her heel into Gabrielle's collarbone.

Gabrielle grabbed Xena's ankle trying to release herself from her hold. She coughed, "it's...mine" she lied.

"Impressive," Xena examined the dagger, "a thief, a liar and an assassin all in one," she nodded and bent down now holding Gabrielle down by her arms being pinned to the marble floor. She smiled holding the dagger in her hand inches away from Gabrielle's face.

The blonde warrior's eyes widened as the conqueror was so close to her face she could smell her rosewater perfume radiating off of her. Her breathing stopped as the woman was so close to her.

"It's too bad I have guests here little one, otherwise I'd deal with you right here..." she frowned, "right _now_." With a snap of her fingers two guards came to her aid and picked up Gabrielle by her underarms.

"Put her in the dungeons below and don't give her anything until I say so," Xena waved at Gabrielle as she was dragged off. "Oh wait, one more thing," she slithered over to Gabrielle as she held the dagger in her hand.

Gabrielle saw the dagger in Xena's hand and her grip was very firm, she didn't want to show fear but she didn't know what would happen now. The stories of the conqueror were obviously sugar coated, she began to wonder if the Romans she trained with ever had an encounter with the conqueror in real life.

Xena cut Gabrielle's straps of her gown and then she cut the waist and the dress fell to floor leaving her naked and feeling embarrassingly exposed. Her eyes scanned the slave girl's body and she traced the blade across Gabrielle's chest, barely grazing her skin.

"Much better," she smiled and handed the dagger to one of her guards. "Take her away." She folded her arms.

Gabrielle was dragged off and she stared at the warrior queen as she was walking the opposite way back to her dining hall. Her eyebrows narrowed and she felt ultimate hatred for this woman. She killed her father and destroyed her village and then she purchased her to be her slave. She was a warrior not a slave maiden. She wanted to fight and if she wanted to be in Xena's army that would mean she'd have to suck up to her and act like her best friend, but Xena was not stupid. This plan wouldn't work if it was done incorrectly and too quickly. This had to be done slowly. Yes, very slow.

* * *

Xena had finished the meeting with the other emperors half an hour ago and she was now in her room taking off her heels and she called out to her maid.

She looked at the girl and it wasn't her usual maid, "where is Rasha?" she questioned suddenly feeling her senses spike.

The brunette felt very timid but she tried to sound as calm as possible, "she's ill my queen and she told me to tend to you for the evening."

Xena sighed, "fine. Take this off of me," she gestured to her gown and the girl moved over quickly unlacing the back of Xena's gown.

Xena unpinned her hair from the bun and it tumbled down her back as her gown dropped to the floor. The brunette girl grabbed the dress and folded it neatly so she could take it to be washed tomorrow. She left the conqueror alone as she prepared a bath for her.

That stupid girl, Xena thought of Gabrielle as she sat in front of the mirror brushing her raven locks. She scoffed just thinking about the girl. She hadn't had an assassination attempt in many moons and partially that was because she was very careful about who she brought into her home and kept as slaves and guards. She had many enemies and people that have betrayed her over the years and she wasn't going to die by the hands of a slave girl.

Still, she smiled, she was very brave to try and do what she did tonight, she had to give her that. Xena continued brushing her hair until the brunette called for her in the bathroom.

The girl grabbed Xena's hair and almost set it in the bath water until Xena grabbed her wrist. "I don't want you to wash my hair, I already washed it yesterday." She let go of the timid girl's shaking wrist. The brunette twirled the conqueror's long hair into a twist and pinned it on top of her head.

After a very lengthy bath Xena dried herself off and came back to her bed dismissing the nervous slave girl. She turned around to see someone in her bed and she grabbed her sword pointing it at the stranger.

"Wow, do you always greet people like that, if so, maybe I'll stop by more often?"

Xena rolled her eyes and put her sword next to her bed. "Marcus what are you doing here? How did you get in here?"

Marcus smiled shrugging his shoulders, "I just...came in," he gestured to her large window.

Xena frowned, "I didn't call for you," she ignored him stripping herself of the towel and looking for her robe.

Marcus's eyes gazed at Xena's naked body as she casually looked for her robe. He felt his blood rising especially when she turned around leaving her robe slightly open allowing him to gaze at her shapely thighs.

She put her hands on her hips, "I'm serious come on now. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, Marcus," she pushed him off her bed and she sat down opening an oil bottle massaging the scented oil onto her skin.

Marcus got off the floor and sighed, "Xena I haven't seen you in a really long time and I'll only be in Athens for a couple of days until I leave for Rome."

Xena frowned, "Rome huh?" she put the oil canister on the bedside table and smiled, "I'll tell you what, you can stay here...I'll do whatever you want," she grabbed his tunic bringing him closer to her, " _if_ you tell me what that slime bag Octavius is conducting, deal?" she kissed his lips softly.

As much as he wanted to be with Xena and he could feel himself giving into her conniving ways he had to stop and he pushed her away from him gently, "you know I _can't_ do that, Xena." He looked down at her disappointed face.

"Well then, get out of my sight!" Xena threw her hands in the air and leaned against the headboard of her bed.

"What's up with your obsession with Rome anyway? You've been trying to get in Rome's pants for over ten years Xena." Marcus sat in a chair making sure he was far away from the bed now, just staring at her. She was fuming but remained calm on the outside.

Xena wanted Rome from the moment Caesar was in charge of the great empire. She wanted it all. She remembered that night when she was in labor with Solan and Caesar attacked her camp unexpectedly. Thinking about that night only brought back many horrible memories and the more reason for her to conquer Rome once and for all, after so many failed attempts.

"Rome will be mine one day, Marcus." She said continuing to massage oil into her silky skin.

He smiled at her ambition, "I hope I will be able to see that one day, Xena. So what's so important that you have to do tomorrow?"

Xena couldn't reveal that as it was Solan's birthday tomorrow and she always sent something small so her messenger could deliver it to him anonymously.

"Just business transactions," she admitted not looking at Marcus in the eye.

Marcus nodded chuckling at her hidden agendas she always kept from everyone. "Right, anyway...since I can't give you any pleasure," he hinted and she smiled back weakly. "I guess I'll be going," he was going for the exit until he remembered something.

"Oh I forgot to tell you. There's a game coming up next week in Rome. Gladiators compete for sport and the winner gets a large sum at the end," he saw Xena's eyes light up and he knew that'd get her attention. "So can I stay now...?" he hoped.

Xena rolled her eyes, "No, but I will take a rain check. Thank you for that information, Marcus. It will prove to be... _very_ valuable to me," she winked as he disappeared.

* * *

The following morning Gabrielle woke up still naked and chained to the wall. She tried to get away from the bright sunlight coming in through the bared window, but she just closed her eyes hoping this was all a dream. She really wanted to kill Xena now. She had only been in here for the night and part of the morning but she knew she'd be in here much longer than that.

Suddenly the door opened and she saw the silhouette of a tall figure and then once it stepped into the light she saw it was the conqueror herself.

"Having fun yet?" Xena asked.

Gabrielle didn't answer but instead spat at the shoes of the conqueror and Xena looked down and back at the blonde nodding her head.

Xena slapped Gabrielle's cheek hard and she frowned, "it will take awhile for me to break you, I feel like," she huffed and turned around. "I have some business to attend to today and when I come back, I expect an apology," she left the room and the large door slammed against the stone wall.

Gabrielle could feel the sting left from Xena's hand and she sighed staring at the floor. She wants an apology? I'll give her an apology. She spat on the floor and saw there was blood in her spit and she touched her lip and it was bleeding. Great, she thought.

* * *

_Elsewhere_

Solan was studying in his room when a knock came to the door and he was so focused he didn't bother to answer so his maid let herself in.

"Solan a package came for you," she said.

He stopped reading and looked up to see his sweet maid, Lysa, with a package in her hands. "thank you, just set it over there," he pointed at the table.

Lysa stared at the package, "don't you want to know what it is?" she inquired.

Solan looked at the finely wrapped package and he sighed. He didn't really like his birthday too much as it only reminded him that he didn't have anybody to celebrate it with. He had a great home and got whatever he wanted but there was always something missing in his life.

"fine, hand me the package," he smiled. Lysa gladly handed it to him.

"every year someone sends you a gift anonymously, who do you think it could be?" she asked feeling rather curious.

Solan shrugged not seeming to care enough to know, "I donno, but whoever it is always sends really amazing gifts. Last year I got a dagger with emeralds carved into the handle." He opened the package and it was a rectangular wooden box. A box within a box, he sighed. "a _box_?" his disappointment surely dissipated as he opened the wooden box revealing a golden pen.

He held the pen and it was obviously real gold he could tell by the weight of it. "Wow look at this Lysa. I bet this thing weighs more than Bargo," he mentioned his pet parrot that he kept in his room. He quickly ran to his desk and dipped the pen's tip into the ink and wrote on a piece of parchment in awe.

"It's beautiful, Solan," Lysa smiled as he saw the excitement in his eyes as he continued to write with his new toy.

"I'm going to use this pen forever," he smiled continuing to write down notes from the book he was reading earlier.

" _What_ pen?" a familiar voice entered the room and Lysa backed away from Solan as she came closer to him.

Solan smiled looking up and holding his pen for his aunt Octavia to see, "I got this golden pen today, isn't it wonderful?"

The woman took the pen and eyed it carefully, "yes indeed. Who gave it to you?"

He shrugged, "somebody sends me gifts for my birthday every year and this year I got this pen." He grabbed the pen back from the woman's grasp and put it back in the wooden box it came in.

She eyed the design of the box and frowned, "this is a Greek design."

"What does it matter? it's an awesome gift," Solan held the box close to him and then set it on his bookshelf next to all his books.

"Hmm," she decided not to let her suspicions get the best of her on Solan's birthday and she smiled. "Come join me on the terrace, Solan," she wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

He followed her and left the pen on the bookshelf anxiously waiting to use it once more.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: thank you all for reading and those who leave reviews. I like to read feedback on my work if I need improvements. More Xena and Gabrielle interaction in the next chapter :) enjoy.**

_Chapter 3_

Borias looked at his son from afar with Xena's messenger boy standing next to him. They were both in the gardens looking in. He smiled as he saw the excitement when Solan opened his gift and he knew that Xena cared enough about him to send him gifts for his birthday every year. She could afford very luxurious gifts so it was not a problem for her to spend money on Solan.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Borias asked the messenger beside him.

The boy nodded, "my queen always picks the best gifts for him."

Borias didn't like hearing the words 'my queen' coming out of anybody's mouth when they mentioned Xena. He never saw her as any type of queen as she wasn't queen material. He figured that she'd never called herself this but everyone else did. He had wondered what Xena looked like after all these years, he had never asked about her appearance but only how she was doing because he knew her empire was thriving of course.

The messenger was standing next to Borias awkwardly and the Hungarian eyed him raising a brow, "What are you looking at me for?"

The messenger smirked, "well ah, do you want to send any word back to the conqueror about Solan?" he asked softly.

"Oh," Borias nodded, "well tell her that he was very pleased with the gift, and..."

The messenger waited for him to continue so he stopped writing on the parchment and looked up at the tall man. "and...?"

Borias sighed, "and...I hope she's well, that's all. I have to go now," he left the messenger by himself to finish writing and be on his way. He made his way across the gardens and into the main square, flipping his hood to cover his now short raven hair. He carried very minimal weapons as he would be seen as a target in Rome with such things. His job was only to watch Solan, but not get too close to him for his safety and his as well. There were a lot of things that he did not tell Xena when he left with Solan and he was able to keep those secrets for fifteen long years.

* * *

_Fifteen Summers Ago_

Xena held her crying son in her arms not sure what to do or where to start. He had been crying for quite some time now and she was beginning to feel helpless. She told Borias that she didn't want to look at him anymore the night before after she gave birth to their son, but seeing as that Borias wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere she saw he had slipped away to go get some water. She heard their infant son crying softly and she went to him picking him up in her arms.

His crying only seemed to worsen when she picked him up which made her panic inside. She could kill anyone in an instant with no remorse or fear, but a crying infant is what stopped her in her tracks. She held him close and covered his body with the blanket and hummed softly.

Borias came back with some water and saw Xena by the fire holding their son in her arms. He was so confused by this woman, at first she didn't want to look at the baby and now she was holding him in her arms. He sighed and knelt down in front of her. Her blue eyes lifting up to look at his puzzled eyes.

"What are you doing?" Borias in a hushed voice now seeing that their son was finally asleep.

Xena's face oozed with guilt and embarrassment, "he was crying, what was I supposed to do, leave him there?" she hissed, "besides," she touched his cheek with her finger, "you left him alone."

He sighed getting up and pouring some water in a bowl, "I was getting water, Xena." He looked back at her and she was still sitting there. "I thought you didn't want to look at him anymore? That you didn't want him anymore?"

Xena turned to look at Borias with narrowed eyes and then back at their son in her arms, "I do"

He put the bowl down and groaned, "you _do_ what?"

"I...I do want him, but in reality I know it is not possible so that's why _you_ will take him and I will leave...and go far from here," she said quietly.

Borias sensed real pain in Xena's voice for the first time since he had been with her. He didn't know if he should comfort her or just agree and stay far from her, so he did the latter.

He sat down next to her and she looked at him with a small grin then gave her attention back to their sleeping son. "He looks like you, I mean...a little bit," he mentioned.

Xena felt her eyes becoming heavy with tears and she looked away, "don't say that," she said sternly. She started to hand the baby to Borias and he looked confused but took the bundle into his arms. "Tomorrow you will leave with him and never see me again, do you understand?"

He looked at their son who was beginning to stir in his slumber, his eyes went back to Xena who was standing staring off into the sunset, " _never_?"

"Never! Do you hear me, never!" she yelled and then composed herself once more, still not looking behind her.

The following morning Borias saw Xena was not asleep but sitting down by a very large tree by herself. Her maid had been taking care of their son for the remainder of the evening. He was to follow her orders and take him away from her as she asked. He approached her and set a hand on her shoulder startling her.

"We are going to leave soon," he said and she looked out at the sunrise with dry eyes.

She nodded and didn't have the nerve to look at him right now so she kept looking at the sun. Borias turned to leave once she didn't say anything and then her voice was suddenly present.

"Borias," she called out softly.

He stopped, "yes?"

"Could you..." she turned to look at him now, "could you name him Solan?" she saw the expression on his face and she turned back to look at the horizon once more.

"you already had a name for him?" his voice filled with surprise.

Xena looked back with a frown on her lips, "well don't look so shocked. Now leave me alone, take the girl with you, I will be fine by myself." Just like I always have been, she thought.

Borias and Xena's slave girl had arrived in the outskirts of Rome and Solan was fast asleep luckily. Borias stepped off the horse and searched around for some water. The truth was that he didn't know how to take care of children and didn't know anything about them. He also knew that his name and everything he did was connected to Xena and he was not very comfortable with having the task of raising a child by himself, especially without Xena.

He looked around holding the reins of the horse as the servant girl held Solan in her arms. There were many people surrounding them not even acknowledging them. He heard whispers and gossip about Xena's army getting wiped out and he also heard someone call Xena a coward for abandoning her army when they were in need. Rolling his eyes he pulled the horse's reins and continued walking trying not to listen to them.

Borias saw one of Caesar's Roman soldiers talking with some philosophers in the square. He eyed one of them and then saw a few more soldiers coming his way so he pulled the horse to the side pretending to mind his own business.

A man eyed Borias and the woman holding the infant in her arms. He smirked and slowly walked towards them as they were parked underneath a canopy and looking rather frustrated. He approached the trio and held out his hand.

"Hello," the man smiled.

Borias looked at him with a raised brow and folded his arms, "I don't have anything to offer you, sorry." He ignored the man and looked up at Solan who was now starting to cry again. He inwardly groaned.

The man looked up at the struggling woman, "is this your wife and child?" he inquired.

Borias didn't know if he should respond but then he shook his head, "no...I found them on the trail and I don't know what to do with them," he said.

"I see, well...I have someone that can take care of the child if you want. She is very good with children," he eyed the small infant.

Borias was unsure of this man, "I would rather see this woman for myself...I don't want to give them to a random stranger"

"But aren't _you_ a stranger to them?" he smirked. Borias couldn't disagree with the man even though it was all a facade.

A few moments later they arrived at a very large villa that was not far from the square, but far enough. The gate had Roman soldiers guarding it and Borias didn't like the looks of this place, but he followed the man inside with his horse behind him.

Once inside the horse was left outside tied to a nearby tree. The servant girl carried Solan bundled up in the blanket. "Romans?" she whispered to Borias.

"I know, just keep calm," he replied in a hushed tone.

A woman with auburn hair and a soft face came out from behind a curtain and smiled at her guests. She was dressed very elegantly and she saw the baby in the small woman's arms. She looked to her assistant and frowned.

"You should have told me that we were going to have guests."

Borias interrupted, "well actually I have to be going very soon I just came here to see if..."

The redhead frowned, "enough. So you have brought a strange tan man into my home with a scrawny slave girl and a...baby?" she raised an eyebrow at her assistant.

The man smiled, "this gentleman said he found them on his path and picked them up on the way. I offered some assistance."

The woman walked closer to the girl holding the baby and she eyed Borias, "is it yours?" she eyed both of them.

Borias cleared his throat, "ah, no."

"Mhm," the woman folded her arms, "well, I suppose I could keep the baby here until I find another place for it, but I am unsure of the girl. She cannot stay," she shook her head.

The slave girl didn't wish to see Solan disappear from her arms but she lied as well, "he's not my baby either, I found him abandoned on the trail as well."

The redheaded woman was very perplexed at this tale these two were telling her, "wow such odd events...all...in one day, _fascinating_ ," she took a long silent pause making the room very uncomfortable.

Borias cut the silence, "so you will take him then?" feeling hopeful but he also didn't want to see his son go. He had barely spent any time with him and it had only been two days since he was born.

The woman nodded, "of course."

Xena must never know that a Roman noblewoman has taken Solan, Borias told himself. It will be our secret, Solan.

* * *

Xena walked into her office and saw more scrolls piled atop of her desk. Rolling her eyes she sat down and stared at the pile not even thinking about reading them, not today at least. She always told herself this but ended up reading them anyway. Today was Solan's birthday and a smile came to her face as she thought of Solan. She hoped that he appreciated every gift that she gave him for all of his birthdays.

A guard knocked on her door disrupting her daydreaming. She cleared her throat and propped her feet on her desk.

"Come," she said loudly.

The guard entered and saluted to her, "mistress, the prisoner in the dungeon demands to speak to you."

Xena's eyebrows raised and she smiled, " _demands_? Alright no problem," she stood up grabbing her whip hooking it to her hip walking quickly to the dungeon below her castle.

* * *

Gabrielle had her knees close to her chest so she felt less exposed. She was left alone with the occassional rats coming by her feet. She heard the door unlock and a tall figure emerged from the darkness. Her boots scrapped the stone flooring and her white teeth could be seen in the dimmed light. Gabrielle squinted her eyes and could see the conqueror was tapping her foot and then stepped into the light.

"So," Xena paced the room, "I heard that you wanted to speak to me," she smiled hoping that this foolish girl would talk back to her. She had a lot of pinned up tension in her system that she needed to let loose right now and this was the perfect victim for it.

Gabrielle watched as the conqueror continued to pace back and forth in front of her. She saw Xena grab her whip and she was now hitting the handle against the palm of her hand as she smiled creepily. She had to choose her words wisely, she thought.

"Yes...I," she watched Xena stop and look at her in the eyes. Those piercing blue eyes were very intimidating and Gabrielle never felt intimidated before in her life. "I wanted to," she swallowed her spit that barely coated her dry throat, "..to...apologize." she was barely able to get the words out of her mouth, which were all lies and if Xena were smart, which Gabrielle knew she was, she'd see right through that.

Xena smiled, "very good, little one, but you know, I am not feeling very _forgiving_ today," she continued smacking the handle of the whip on her palm. She now unraveled her whip and paced slowly in front of the blonde.

"You did try to kill me after all," Xena winked at the blonde. "I must say that you impress me, little one."

Gabrielle wanted to roll her eyes, "and why's that?" she saw Xena give her a stern look, "lord conqueror," she added.

Xena smiled, "first you talk back to me, oh and then you steal from me," noting the dagger, "then you try to kill me oh and then, the _best_ part of it all," Xena's eyes widened like a mad woman, "you ran from me!" she laughed aloud, "thinking you could get away," she halted her laughter and then cracked her whip on the stone floor causing the blonde to flinch.

"oh and one tiny detail I left out," Xena folded her arms and called out to her guards, "bring her in!"

Gabrielle was very confused now and she saw the guards carry in someone, a woman of tall but slim stature and had...blonde hair. It was Callisto, the slave girl that had kept her in her room while she was hiding from Xena's guards.

Xena grabbed Gabrielle's short locks and pulled her head back, "this is what happens when you keep secrets from me," she gestured for the guards to lift Callisto's head up and saw a massive gash on her once perfectly soft face. It would become a horrible scar. Gabrielle's eyes widened at the sight and she stared up at Xena.

"Pretty, is she not? _She_ seemed to think you were," she smiled and walked over to Callisto grabbing her arm releasing her from her guards' hold. "Show us what happens when we disobey the conqueror, Callisto," Xena demanded.

Callisto looked at Gabrielle daring not to look into Xena's maddened blue eyes.

"I said show her!" Xena cracked her whip on the stone and Callisto flinched slowly taking off her top leaving her completely exposed. "turn around," Xena demanded. She did as told and Gabrielle saw many lashes on her back, and all but a few were very fresh. Gabrielle didn't have any lashes on her and she would like to keep it that way. Remember the friend plan, Gabrielle.

"Get her out of my sight," Xena kicked Callisto to the ground before the guards even reached her. She was now alone with Gabrielle again. She knelt down touching her chin softly. "You have such a pretty face," she pulled out her dagger, "it would be a shame...to see it go to waste..." she traced the dagger on Gabrielle's full cheek drawing a small amount of blood. She licked her dagger's blade with a wicked smile.

Gabrielle looked at the woman in front of her and felt a sense of disgust and intrigue all in one. She tried her best not to show any of her emotions in front of her as that would make her very vulnerable.

"I like you," Xena said, "I just don't like when you talk back to me," she shrugged. "I have a proposal for you and this is very rare so you should probably listen," she raised a brow.

Gabrielle didn't say anything as she learned her lesson the first time.

Xena paced the room, "there's a game approaching in Rome in about a week. If you can prove to me that you can fight well I will enter you in the games. If you win, I promise to spare your life, if you lose..." she smiled, "well you can guess what the punishment is, I trust you are a smart girl so I'm sure your decision –"

Gabrielle interrupted immediately, "I'll do it."

The conqueror's grin became more sinister-like, "excellent," she clasped her hands together in excitement. "Guards unchain her and prepare her. She will train tomorrow," she left the room and felt very accomplished. Stupid child, she thought.

* * *

The following morning Gabrielle walked out into the training field and saw Xena overlooking on a terrace with the most smug look present on her face. She looked at the men in front of her and most were confused, some scoffed while others continued training minding their own business.

A young man came to her and bowed his head, "weapon of choice?"

Gabrielle saw the array of weapons stacked against a wall and she smiled at all of the choices. "The staff."

Xena observed that the blonde chose a stick to fight with. She smirked while eating a few grapes, "this ought to be interesting," she was going to enjoy watching this.

Gabrielle closed her eyes focusing on her opponent and remembered all of her training from when she was a teen.

_"Again Gabrielle," her mentor said. He was very patient but Gabrielle wasn't doing well._

_Gabrielle threw her staff on the ground, "look Jalal I just can't do it," she huffed and folded her arms. She had been living with this Egyptian family that worked for the Romans for over two years now since her village was destroyed. She had always wondered where Lila had gone to or what happened to her. She continued to search for her but received no response from anyone in her path._

_"You can do it, Gabrielle, you just need to focus. Don't think about your opponent's present actions, think of his future actions. You need to always be one step ahead of your enemy, remember that."_

One step ahead. "One step ahead," Gabrielle opened her eyes and knocked her opponent on the ground instantly.

Xena leaned over the railing and laughed, "perhaps I shall raise an army full of women as my next goal."

Gabrielle looked up at Xena and smiled at the conqueror woman.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 4_

I felt my heart about to jump out of my chest and my face had become numb. I looked up at the sky, the sun beaming down on my face and blinding my eyes. I blinked slowly feeling the pain in my eyes as I haven't slept in the last two days. The conqueror wanted me to be my best for the arena, but her challenges were far more extreme than when I had trained with the Romans as a young teen. I had used my Roman training to apply it to the conqueror's strict regime, but it seems that it was not good enough. Not good enough for me, or for her. I often wondered if she would be watching and if I had failed her or not. She was tough when it came to her men training and the women did not train here which I knew. The conqueror chose me for some odd reason, but I didn't want to prove that I was weak and I wanted to compete as it might be the only chance I get at freedom.

The whip cracked on the hot sand and Gabrielle snapped to getting to her feet immediately.

One of Xena's men looked at the blonde with a stern face and he threw her the staff. "Again. You must train until nightfall, orders from the conqueror herself."

She twirled the staff in her hands and sighed as she began hitting a wooden post with her staff furiously. Sweat began pouring down her face the harder she hit the post. The man with the whip watched her from afar and he looked up to the terrace and saw the conqueror gazing over the railing.

Xena looked at Gabrielle and saw she was attacking the post vigorously. She had been training for the last two days and knew that the blonde would be very exhausted by now as she hadn't had much sleep. She wanted to see how much the girl could take and so far she had not disappointed her. A smile crept onto her crimson lips as she watched her army of men and _woman_ train before her.

"Tisus," Xena called out to the man with the whip and he turned to look at her. She smiled, "give the little one a _real_ weapon."

Everyone stopped training and their eyes followed to the short haired blonde who had stopped hitting the post. Gabrielle turned around and eyed the conqueror who had such a grin on her face.

"Which weapon, my queen?" Tisus asked.

Xena pursed her lips and then set her hands on her hips, "a sword perhaps. If she can hold it that is," her eyes darted to Gabrielle and she sipped some wine from her glass.

Tisus handed Gabrielle a double edged sword and she took it with ease, even though the blade was almost half her size she twirled it in her hands testing the weight of the sword.

Gabrielle had not worked with a lot of swords but she definitely knew how to use one thanks to her Roman training. She was more skilled with a bow and daggers, but this will have to do. For the conqueror, she thought. For her.

"Zehra," Xena called out and the blonde's green eyes met with Xena's piercing blues. "Spar with Tisus," she raised a dark eyebrow and leaned over the railing waiting for a reaction. Tisus eyed the conqueror and then set his whip aside grabbing a sword from the weapon wrack.

Tisus wasn't sure what his queen had up her sleeve but she surely knew that this little girl was no match for him. He had competed in the arena many times, even before he became a slave to the conqueror. This fight would end in a bloody mess, he just knew it, but he didn't dare disobey his queen since he knew what became of the disobeyers –the betrayers.

He thrust the blade towards Gabrielle and she blocked it with grace. Her body was nimble and graceful as she handled the large sword in her hands. She managed to block his blade three times in a row, but not once did she attack him, only defend.

Gabrielle felt her hands becoming wet with her salty sweat as she danced around Tisus. She was defending his attacks with ease but she knew that the conqueror was not looking for a defensive warrior, but an attacker, a bold one at that. She knew that Xena would love to see her fall to the ground in defeat but she wasn't going to let that happen to her, not today. She felt her head becoming foggy from the lack of sleep and proper food. Her muscles ached as she spared with this warrior. Gabrielle could feel every muscle in her body crying out in pain especially carrying the heavy blade in her hands.

Tisus swung his blade and it grazed Gabrielle's back drawing blood. Gabrielle gasped in pain and fell to her knees feeling the sting from the mark Tisus had left on her mid-back. She groaned, biting her lip and stood up with sword in hand.

Xena saw the gash on the blonde's back and her eyes widened in excitement. She leaned over the railing even more as she saw the girl get up ready to fight again. She smiled handing her empty chalice to one of her slave girls. She then took a sip of the now wine filled chalice as she watched the fight continue on.

Gabrielle's arm was now cut by Tisus's sword once again and she was getting frustrated and feeling defeated. She looked around at all the men watching her, some laughing, some shaking their heads and some upset, perhaps because she got the chance to spar with the man instead of them, she didn't know. She wanted to win, but knew she wouldn't be able to win with this blade against this skilled warrior. She suddenly threw the sword a few feet away and was now without a weapon.

Xena frowned, "she is even stupider than I imagined. How delightful," she sipped more wine eagerly waiting to see what happens next.

Tisus peered up at the conqueror wondering if she was going to put a halt to this absurd fight, but her eyes were now focused and he sighed turning back to his opponent.

Gabrielle touched the gash on her arm and frowned at Tisus. His sword still in hand and her with nothing. She dug her feet further into the sand and smiled at him. She wanted him to come to her. Adjusting her weight into the sand ready for an attack she saw Tisus give in to her plan. He charged at her with his blade and she rolled onto the sand kicking his groin and he groaned, but did not fall.

She tumbled up into a standing position and smiled at her pained opponent. He came at her again but she grabbed his arm kicking his elbow with her knee. There was an audible crack heard on the training ground. Gabrielle had broke his arm and many of the men winced at the horrid sound of Tisus's bone cracking.

Xena swallowed her entire glass of wine and set the cup down on a nearby tray. She smiled widely as the fight was going a different direction than she had anticipated. She held up her hand, "enough!" she yelled.

Tisus was on the ground holding his now broken arm and he looked up at his queen. Gabrielle was breathing heavily and her eyes went to the terrace staring at the conqueror.

"I have seen all that I need to see. Everyone go back to your training," Xena turned on her heels and left the terrace disappearing behind the curtains.

Gabrielle smiled as she knew that the conqueror enjoyed the fight. She was one step closer to getting on her good side and she hoped it stayed this way. She lend her hand to Tisus who was still in a lot of pain. He looked up at her and frowned, but took her hand out of respect.

"Good fight, for a woman," he nodded.

She decided to take this as a compliment and smiled returning the nod of respect as he was helped to his feet.

"You should go to medical," he gestured to her giant gash on her arm and back.

* * *

Xena went to her bedroom and took off her bracers giving them to her slave girl, Racha. She was rather impressed with the little blonde in the training grounds today. She didn't know she had that kind of fight in her and it was refreshing to see a woman on her grounds. As a woman herself she knew that females were always better and destined to do great things compared to their male counterparts. They had been made better rules, better lovers, better fighters, and that is why they were always killed. Thanks to the tip that Marcus had told her about the games in Rome she decided she would make a special guest appearance next week. She longed to sit next to Octavius and his wimpy Roman soldiers for the games. She had never participated in the games as she thought it was always a waste of time, but this time she knew that her time there was going to be well spent. Especially if she was going to make a profit off of this young girl.

Racha interrupted her thoughts as she handed her a scroll with her seal on it. "mistress, this came for you today."

Xena brushed her bangs from her eyes and took the scroll. She broke the seal and stared at the girl, "and you are still here why?" she didn't wish for an audience.

Racha nodded and set a few towels on Xena's bed and showed herself out closing the door softly. Xena began reading the scroll and it was from her messenger. The message conveyed that Solan was very enthusiastic about his gift that she gave him. A smile came to her face as she was pleased he enjoyed the present. She had spent awhile trying to figure out what to give him for his fifteenth birthday. At the end of the message there was something Borias had said and her smile disappeared. She didn't know how she felt about Borias anymore, of course she had missed him, but she often wondered if Solan was with him. She preferred not to know, but secretly she wanted to know if Borias had some sort of relationship with their son. If he did then that just made her envious of him and hurt her inside even more.

One day I will see you Solan, she told herself. Rolling up the scroll she went to her fireplace and knelt down close to the fire. She threw the scroll into the fire watching the parchment burn before her.

Xena went to her bath and requested for Racha to come back as she needed to wash her hair today. She was meeting with someone very important later and wanted to look her best.

* * *

Gabrielle went to her sleeping quarters that was cornered off from the men and she slowly sat down on her bed. Her bandages on her arm and back helped but she was going to feel this pain for quite some time. She hissed as she accidentally scraped her back against the bed as she lay down.

"So where did you learn how to fight like that?"

A male voice appeared and Gabrielle sat up in a defensive mode as she saw one of the warrior women standing in the entrance of her room. She decided not to answer and avert her gaze.

He smiled, "my name is Calis," he held out his hand but she refused to take it. he shrugged, "okay that's fine. Anyway, are you the conqueror's pet or something?" he walked around her room and marveled at the space this young girl acquired.

Gabrielle answered bluntly, "no! I'm nobody's pet," she followed up quietly.

Calis nodded, "you got a nice room for yourself here. You must have done something to please the conqueror for her to give you this set up, no?" he winked.

"I was just told where to go," Gabrielle refused to give this man any details of her and the conqueror, since there weren't really any there was nothing to reveal.

He smiled, "I'll take that as a no. You aren't really her type," he stood fixing his gauntlets staring at Gabrielle.

Her _type_? What does that even mean? Gabrielle was now curious but unsure if she should press on for more so she stayed quiet. "what is your business in my room anyhow?"

"Wow, feisty. Just trying to make friends as I figured you don't have many, with this room you got to yourself."

Gabrielle wasn't sure what this man's angle was but she didn't like him just waltzing into her room uninvited. "How does one get an audience with the conqueror?"

Calis raised an eyebrow, "you don't. She calls for you."

"Suppose that I wanted to speak to her, how would I go about doing that?" Gabrielle folded her arms.

"You really don't know how this works, do you, blondie?" he laughed. "Nobody speaks to the conqueror until you're summoned," he made his way for the exit, "remember, you're her slave now. If you need anything...I mean _anything_ , I'll be down the hall."

Gabrielle smiled nervously and nodded as she watched him leave. She sighed as she was alone again. I need to speak to Xena, as fast as possible.

She waited until nightfall and everyone was asleep. Gabrielle crept out of her room avoiding the guards walking through the halls beneath Xena's mansion. She had remembered her way here and through some parts of Xena's manor. She needed to speak to her about her position for next week, but it seems that would be impossible with all the guards around her palace.

Gabrielle saw the exit and a guard was standing right in front of it. She quietly tiptoed to the guard and kicked the back of his knees and he felt the ground with a loud groan. She took his sword at his hip and used the handle to hit the back of his head and he was now unconscious. Just enough time for her to escape into the manor. I will find you, lord conqueror.

* * *

Xena smiled at her guest and offered some wine to him but he kindly refused. This meeting was proving to be very awkward and not much was said between the two.

"So, Octavius sends his best man in his place to meet with me, very interesting," Xena grabbed some fruit from the tray on the low table.

Tiberius smiled weakly at the woman in front of him. "Augustus Octavius sends his apologies. He had some business to attend to that was agreed upon months before this meeting."

"Of course he did," Xena added dryly.

"So, you mentioned in your letter that you wish to join the games in Rome next week, is that right?" Tiberius ignored her cold remark.

Xena smiled sipping on her wine, "yes and I will be presenting a fine warrior of mine."

"you have quite a reputation with the Roman empire, Xena," he leaned back in his chair now taking a swig of his wine that he finally decided to drink.

"I see that you are well caught up on your history, Tiberius," Xena smiled smugly. "A shame Caesar perished at the hands of his dear friend, Brutus. Some friend he was. If Caesar agreed to be my ally I would have _never_ betrayed him..." she licked her berry stained fingers, staring directly at her enemy.

Tiberius saw the smite in Xena's eyes and knew that she was a snake just like Octavius had warned him. He played it calmly though and smiled at her.

"you a quite a queen, Xena. You have gained the entirety of Asia and even managed to gain territories in Egypt as well."

Xena leaned closer to Tiberius and stabbed a piece of fruit with her dagger. She saw the man's eyes flinch and her smile grew. She held the apple close to his lips and she put her hand gently on his thigh.

"If I want something, Tiberius...I just...take it," he opened his mouth and took the apple from the point of Xena's dagger and gazed into her blue eyes. She leaned back into her chair and watched him as he was shifting in his chair uncomfortably.

* * *

Gabrielle was in a part of Xena's manor that she had never seen before and it was very cold. The torches helped with the light but otherwise it was very dark in her palace. She quietly crept through the halls and found an opening. It was an entrance to a library. Gabrielle had always liked reading and wondered what kind of books the conqueror had in her library. She questioned even if the conqueror could read or liked to read. It seemed she liked to enjoy hurting people for her own good that's for sure. Later, she thought. She passed the library and saw a slew of guards at the end of the hall guarding two large doors.

Gabrielle remembered this place. That was the same room Xena was in the last time she escaped her room within the palace. Only this time there were many guards at the doors. Smiling she took a different direction hoping to get closer this time. She knew where Xena's office was but that probably wouldn't help her right now. As she got closer to the banquet hall she heard Xena's loud laugh and she felt her heart jump. She didn't want the conqueror to find her right now, especially since she wasn't supposed to even be here at the moment.

A few moments had gone by and Gabrielle waited to see if the conqueror was going to come out of the hall but no such luck. She sighed as she sat in a dark corner peeking her head around. She didn't have all night and it seemed the conqueror really liked discussing politics or she really liked her wine. Suddenly Gabrielle saw two hand maidens walking in the hall carrying some clothes and she had an idea.

She left the dark corner and followed behind the maids making sure they wouldn't notice.

"Do you think the conqueror will bring someone to her bed tonight?" one of the maids whispered to the other.

"I hope not, she makes such a mess. It's such a disaster to clean the sheets in the mornings."

The other girl nodded, "Definitely. The last time Marcus was here I had to clean those sheets for hours only for the conqueror to tell me to dispose of them and buy new ones!"

Gabrielle listened to these two talking and she honestly didn't want to hear any more of it. She now remembered what Calis was talking about back in her bedroom. The conqueror had many bed slaves it seemed and it was obvious that her hand maidens disapproved. If she saw these two girls again she'd make sure to tell them to keep their voices down as anyone could be listening.

The two girls stopped at two large doors and they entered quietly leaving the door slightly ajar. Gabrielle looked inside and assumed that this must be the conqueror's room. They laid the clothes on a large bed and some towels on a nearby chair.

A few minutes later the two girls left the room and Gabrielle hid behind a wall and waited until they were gone. She smiled inwardly as she now knew where the conqueror's bedroom was. She knew she wasn't going to be able to talk to her tonight as she was probably drunk and incoherent, but soon, _soon_. Gabrielle made her way back to her quarters beneath the palace making sure that she was unseen.

She was not missed it seemed and now she would only have a few hours of sleep left until she began training in a few short hours. She closed her eyes on her bed and felt a short victory as she drifted off to a light sleep.

* * *

Xena awoke dripping in sweat and gasped for air. She held her head in her palm and groaned as the light shined into her bedroom. She didn't really like mornings too much but she had to get up anyway. She was sure that her maids had been standing outside of her room for awhile now, but they would just have to wait awhile longer. Swinging her legs over to the side of the bed she slowly rose to her feet wrapping a robe around her naked body. She went over to her vanity and started brushing her long locks and suddenly felt a creepy vibe in her bedroom. She set her brush down and scanned the room.

"Ares!" Xena called out and the War God appeared beside her vanity with his arms crossed. She continued brushing her hair.

"It amazes me that you are the only mortal that is able to do that," he marveled and came behind her grabbing her wrist tightly halting her from continuing to brush her hair.

"What do you want, Ares? Can't you see I am very busy," she snatched her wrist from his hold and continued on.

He smiled and sat on her bed casually, "oh yeah you're so busy, Xena. I see that you are having trouble sleeping," he grinned.

Xena felt a sense of embarrassment but didn't let her emotions cloud her mind and she kept her poker face. "I just had too much wine last night, that is all."

"uh huh," he got up and sighed audibly. "Your bed seems untouched..."

"As it should remain that way," she concluded.

He came behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders causing her to avert her gaze elsewhere. "Don't you miss us, Xena? Your bed is just an invitation for the both of us. We both know that you have nothing to do today...or tomorrow.." his grin becoming more mischievous.

Xena brushed him off of her, "My bed declines you, Ares. I have plenty to prepare for as the games are next week," she took off her robe and disappeared into her bathroom.

He didn't mind the sight in front of him and followed her in as he noticed she didn't seem to mind. He watched as she slipped into the warm scented bath water putting her hair up into a bun.

"Are you going to just stand there and watch me all day?" Xena scowled and started washing her arms gently with a cloth.

Ares circled the tub and dipped his hand in the warm water and suddenly appeared behind her stroking her shoulders gingerly as she continued to wash her body. He felt her reaction and noticed she tried to repress it

"I don't need you anymore Ares," she said bluntly.

"You would be nothing without me, Xena, admit it," he hissed.

Xena shrugged his slimy hands off of her and sighed, "I don't need you Ares. My empire is thriving and expanding more as we speak. Rome is in my grasp," she wrung out the extra water in the cloth.

Ares splashed the water in the tub shocking Xena and she frowned looking at his dark eyes. "Do you always throw away things that are in your way, like a certain son of yours?" he knew that would get underneath her skin.

Xena felt her blood boil and she stood up totally exposed. Ares' eyes scanned her entire body and she stared directly into his eyes. Pointing her finger inches from his face she said shakily, "you leave him out of this. That was different."

"Is it, though?" he smiled. "I can tell you where he is...that is, if you do something for me in return."

Xena groaned, "no Ares. You always want something from me. I don't want to know where he is. I let him go for a reason. He doesn't deserve to have a mother like me," she sunk down into the water again.

"If that's what you want, Xena. I see you give him gifts every year for his birthday, I'd say you secretly wish to know him more. Don't you want to see him once in your life?" his words grazed his tongue like a serpent.

His offer was tempting but Xena knew that Ares had games and she didn't want in any part of his schemes as they always came back to bite her in the butt.

"Just leave him alone Ares. As far as I know he has a nice life without _me_ in it," she concluded.

"Fine, let me know if you change your mind," he whispered in her ear and within a second he was gone in a flash. Finally she was able to breathe and she sighed continuing to wash herself.

* * *

An hour or so later Xena made her way to her terrace to overlook her warriors in training. One of her maids handed her a wine chalice and she took it forcefully as she was not in one of the best moods. She looked over the railing and saw Gabrielle working with that staff again. She is very interesting, she doesn't give up and Xena liked that in this girl. Smirking she set the glass down on a tray and clapped her hands.

All of her warriors stopped training and looked up at her as her clapping slowed receiving an awkward silence. Gabrielle gazed up at the conqueror with a smile.

Xena pointed at the blonde, "You! To my office," and she disappeared behind the curtains.

Gabrielle felt her heart drop to her stomach and one of the guards escorted her to Xena's office. She didn't know what was going to happen to her. Did she find out about her little adventure last night? Surely not, the woman was drunk and had no idea what was going on outside the banquet hall. Must have been some important meeting, she thought.

Moments later she entered Xena's office and saw her sitting in her large chair with her boots propped up on her desk. She was sharpening a long sword casually. This is it, this is where I die, Gabrielle told herself.

"You summoned me, lord conqueror?" Gabrielle said as the doors closed behind her.

Silence filled the room and Xena looked at the blonde, "You love to speak without permission, don't you?" she continued sharpening the blade.

No I don't, you're just so intimidating. Gabrielle twirled her thumbs behind her back.

"I saw what you did yesterday during the spar. I am impressed and that doesn't happen often, little one," Xena smiled smugly. She held out her blade to the young woman. "Take this."

Gabrielle didn't move and wasn't sure if this was a test or not.

"Go on, take it," Xena's smile turned more into a wicked challenge. Gabrielle inched forward and slowly grabbed the heavy blade from Xena's hold. She then stood up and Gabrielle moved backward as if scared of the conqueror woman.

"Fight me," Xena demanded.

Gabrielle was confused now. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

Xena frowned now stepping closer to the woman and the tip of the sword touched Xena's armor.

"I said fight me, little one, or are you afraid?" she hissed.

Gabrielle let the sword touch the wooden floor, "I won't, mistress."

Xena cocked her head to the side and stepped closer to the blonde as she was now inches away from her body, towering over her. She bent her head down now staring at the blonde's forehead.

"It is not fear that derives from you is it, little one?" Xena smiled softly. "You respect me, no?"

"Yes, mistress," Gabrielle said barely above a whisper.

Xena kicked the blonde bringing her to her knees. She grabbed a fistful of Gabrielle's hair in her hands and pulled her head back to stare directly into her green eyes. The longer she stared into her eyes she seemed to have a flush of feelings come over her.

"Your eyes do not possess terror. Your eyes..." Xena stared longer and she recalled these eyes before. "...I know your eyes, little one."

Gabrielle was now starting to feel a bit scared now. How had she been so foolish to think that Xena would not remember her? So far it had worked. This is it, this is where I die.

Xena released the blonde's hair and took a step back pacing back and forth in front of the girl. "You're obviously a Roman slave as you mentioned before. You have the marking of a Roman slave on your shoulder."

Gabrielle wasn't sure where this was going.

"We'll have to fix that. You are mine now and you will fight against the Romans next week. I need you at your best. This is the first time I will attend the games. You represent me and my empire, understand?" she pointed her finger at the blonde.

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes, mistress." She had dodged a bullet there. "Why did you choose me? You have many capable male warriors in your army. I see them fight, they are better than me."

Xena grinned and she twirled her hair slowly, "you like to talk do you not? I should have you whipped for that, but..alas...I need you. I chose you because you are skilled warrior, I can tell."

"you hate the Romans, so why choose me?"

Xena's grin disappeared now and she brought the blonde to a standing position. "I'd rather have a roman bitch fight in the arena against those dogs, I want to see them _burn_! They have taken so much from me..." she was letting her emotions guide her and she let go of Gabrielle's arm trying to compose herself again.

Gabrielle saw a lot of hurt in the conqueror's eyes. Something she was not sure the woman was capable of but she finally saw something human about the barbarian woman. Surely this conversation would never leave the room.

"you will fight in my name, little one. Once you have your victory I will reward you greatly...you may have anything you'd like..." Xena sat down in her chair once more. "What do you like? Women? Men? Wine? I can give you anything you desire.." she licked her lips.

Gabrielle was in shock and for once she had nothing to say.

"Suddenly you are shy of words," Xena laughed. "No matter, you can decide later, just make sure you win. I am depending on you. Represent me and your life shall be spared."

She nodded and turned to leave until the conqueror's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Oh and...trust me, there will be no more knocking out my guards, _understand_?" Xena's voice was calm and eerie.

Gabrielle's eyes widened at this. She knew everything and she was still alive. She counted her blessings for this. She nodded over her shoulder and left Xena's office.

**AN: hope this was enjoyable for everyone. Feedback is welcome and enjoy the upcoming chapters :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: in the previous chapter Xena had said Gabrielle's real name by accident. I have gone back and changed it. If you didn't notice great, if so, sorry, it's just a habit from watching those two together in the show lol. This chapter is a rather heavy one and will focus on the emotions of Gabrielle and Xena, but not of them together, not just yet ;)**

**Enjoy everyone!**

_Chapter 5_

This week is the week that Gabrielle had dreaded now. This was the week of the games, the arena, the life or death situation. The conqueror had made it very clear that she wanted Gabrielle to win and she wasn't going to take no for an answer otherwise she'd off her instantly. Gabrielle had been training constantly and every day she awoke with sore muscles she didn't even know could be sore at all. Hardly eating enough food, the conqueror was very strict when it came to diet and training rituals. Finally at last tomorrow Gabrielle will travel with the conqueror and her entourage to Rome for the games. She had heard of the games many times when she trained with the Romans after she left her village when Xena sacked it, but she had never seen them up close and personal. Gabrielle knew that many of the gladiators did not make it out alive and inwardly she feared she would be one of those gladiators. By nature she was not a gladiator but a Roman wannabe soldier in her eyes. The conqueror must have seen something in her since she was the only female and the only one chosen to fight in the arena in the conqueror's name. The last few days went by slowly and she secretly wished she was never chosen to participate in the games, especially if she lost. If she lost, the conqueror would have her head or her head would belong to her victorious opponent. No, Gabrielle decided that she was going to win no matter what happened, even if she lost a limb.

Gabrielle sat in her bed wide awake staring at the ceiling in her dark room. She could feel the uneasiness settling in her gut as she knew dawn was nearing. She hadn't slept most of the night as her nerves were overpowering her mind but she knew that she had to be strong, had to win. Win, that's the goal, she told herself. Closing her eyes she imagined herself in her training sessions with Jalal as a young teenager again.

* * *

Jalal was an Egyptian soldier employed by the Romans brought to Thrace to train potential Roman soldiers. After Gabrielle left her village she had nowhere to go. She had lost everything, her parents, her sister, her home and she was not even thirteen summers old. Gabrielle had wandered off into the wilderness feeling hopeless. She had wandered for four days, scrounging for food but at least she had fresh water from nearby streams on her journey. She had no idea where she was or where she was going to end up at. One day she was taking a nap under a large tree and heard wagons and horses from afar.

Jolting awake she saw two large wagons, a lot of men dressed in fine armor and a dark skinned man riding the most magnificent horse Gabrielle had laid her eyes on. The man came to a halt and frowned at the young blonde. She figured that he thought she was some harlot or a lost slave, but she was neither of those things. She was an orphan, an orphan of war as many would say and feeling as lost as ever.

Jalal whispered to his next in command and then stared back at Gabrielle. "What are you doing out here, girl?"

Gabrielle suddenly felt her throat close up as she didn't know what to say. For someone who loved to talk she was speechless.

"Speak up girl!" he yelled and saw the young girl flinch at his tone.

"I...I don't have a home. I just left my village...everything...destroyed," she managed to spit out.

Jalal nodded and knew exactly who was responsible, it was that Xena woman he had heard so much about. He had never seen the barbarian woman in person, but heard she was capable of committing such horrible crimes. He knew that that woman did not care who she left behind and whose lives she destroyed, but only cared about her conquests and how many people followed her in her victory, her bloody victory.

"Do you have any skills, girl?" he asked in a softer tone this time.

Gabrielle nodded, "I...I can cook pretty well, oh and I can tell stories!"

Jalal smiled softly. This poor girl had no idea where she was and yet she talks of telling stories. He gestured for one of his men to come over and he pointed to the wagon. "Get in the wagon. I shall not see a child die of starvation."

The man grabbed the teen's arm and pulled her to the nearest wagon, which had a lot of supplies in it, mostly weaponry. Gabrielle was very confused now and suddenly wished she hadn't said anything to the strange man at all. It was bad enough that she had no family, no home and no life to go back to, but what will become of her now? Will she become a slave? By the looks of the armor the men wore they were not part of Xena's crew, but perhaps of a more noble army, she thought.

The wagons and horses began to move and the men followed. Gabrielle climbed to the front of the wagon to talk to the tan man again. She held onto the sides as the wagon jerked back and forth from the rocky ground beneath the wheels.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Jalal sensed fear in the girl's voice and he peered back at her then to the road again. "To Rome, young one."

_Rome_? That is a far journey from here, wherever here was, but she knew she couldn't be too far from her village. She had heard of Rome from her mother's stories and that there were many great schools in Rome. She had a feeling she wasn't going to be in school when she got there though. This was the beginning of Gabrielle, the warrior, the survivor, the soldier endowed to the Roman elite.

* * *

Gabrielle's dreams came to a rude interruption when Tisus came into her room shaking her arm. It appears that dawn as arrived and this would be her last day here in Xena's ludus.

"Come, you are to be fitted for armor today and you will leave after breakfast with the conqueror."

Gabrielle sat up and readied herself for today. It was going to be a long journey to Rome from here, she knew this. Making her way down the hall she got many mean glares from the men and she averted them keeping her focus. She didn't know if she would see the conqueror anytime soon, but she doubted it especially after their last meeting. She had not spoke with Xena since their meeting in her office a few days ago. She figured that the woman was very busy preparing for this journey to Rome and she remembered Xena's harsh words about the Romans. She truly hated them, but why? What did the Romans ever do to her? Sure the Romans could be ruthless and overbearing but from what Gabrielle saw when she was a child when Xena came to conquer her village, the Romans were angels compared to her. Xena was a murderer and she couldn't wrap her head around it. What made this woman so angry at the world that she had to control every territory that she laid her eyes upon?

From what Gabrielle knew about the conqueror was that she was a very angry hated-filled woman, but everyone had a past, whether bad or good, it was still a past and you can't erase the past but only move on to better things in the future. Gabrielle didn't know whether she had hatred for the conqueror woman for what she did or pity. The woman was obviously power hungry, but every ruler has something inside them that made them that way, what about Xena? She didn't know too much about her except she liked to rape and pillage every village in her path. It seems that Xena was done raping and pillaging though as she had conquered many great lands stretching from Thrace to East Asia minus the kingdom of Chin. Right then Gabrielle decided that she needed to win in this match no matter what. She needed to know more about the conqueror woman, more about her past, but she couldn't do that without getting close to her first, and that is why she must _win_.

* * *

Racha held up a red gown with a black cape in Xena's bedroom. She was showing the conqueror all of the wardrobe that she could take to the games as they might last a few days. Xena would be traveling for quite some time and she needed to look her best as she was representing her people, her legacy as the warrior queen.

Xena shook her head, "it's too...gaudy. I need something that will make me look powerful...regal, very Romanesque," she leaned back on her bed as her maid kept bringing out different clothes.

"What about this one, my queen?" Racha held up a golden gown with black trim around the bust, an empire waist gown and this caught Xena's attention.

The conqueror smiled and stood up letting the fabric slide in between in her slim fingers. "Perfect. Remind me to send you and Amelia to the market to buy fabric while we are in Rome. I shall have some dresses made there," she sat down at her vanity fixing her long raven locks. She turned around and frowned, "that'll be all, Racha."

The maid bowed and left the bedroom closing the large doors behind her. Xena sighed and waltzed over to her balcony. She opened a large cage that was close to her balcony and she let her large arachnid pet crawl onto her hand. She held the spider close to her face petting it's furry abdomen lovingly.

"what am I going to do without you, my pet?" she smiled at the furry creature as it snuggled against her warm skin. Her pet was now crawling onto her upper arm and made itself comfortable on her shoulder.

"I leave for Rome soon, did you know?" she spoke to her pet and the spider stayed silent as he was nestled onto her shoulder looking out at the balcony with his master. She sighed, "of course you don't know, you cannot speak back to me. Is this what I have sunk to? Talking to animals in hopes that they respond to me?"

The spider made his way across her shoulder and onto her chest comfortably. Xena smiled grabbing her pet in her hand again, "don't take this the wrong way, you are a great listener, my sweet," she kissed the creature's head and it crawled onto her other arm. She was beginning to think that being a conqueror of all of these lands was too boring. It was more fun to conquer than to be a conqueror. She often wondered what life would have been like if she hadn't gone down the path that she did. She would probably be married to one of the men she was betrothed to in Amphipolis. She started to have a rush of emotions cloud her mind as her brothers and mother came creeping into her thoughts. Xena hadn't spoken to her mother in over fifteen years and she figured that she still owned that tavern back home.

She no longer wanted to think of such things anymore and shrugged off the idea. She grabbed the spider and put him back into his cage.

"I will see you when I come back from Rome, my sweet. I shall have Callisto attend to you while I am gone," she smiled closing the cage door and saw the spider cling to the cage. "Oh and don't bite her again, I know you don't like her but I just don't have anyone else to attend to you while I am away," she smiled walking away from her balcony and stripping from her robes to take a bath before her long journey.

* * *

Rome

Octavius sat with Tiberius in his office and heard a knock at his door. He knew that this day was going to be very long and tiring. Xena The Conqueror would be arriving by nightfall and he knew he would have to invite her for a lengthy dinner with his sister and everyone attending the games. He really didn't like Xena, that woman was a snake like his great uncle, Caesar, had warned him when he was a child. He suddenly heard a loud crash outside of his office and got up quickly to see what the commotion was.

He saw Solan and a young slave boy playing within wooden swords in the main room and he frowned. "Solan I told you that you cannot train inside the house. You need to go outside to do that."

Solan sulked and twirled the wooden weapon in his hand, "but uncle, they won't let me go outside. They're preparing for that conqueror lady, what was her name again?"

"Her name is Xena," he sighed, "just don't play inside anymore. Go find something else to do," he rubbed his temples feeling a headache coming on. He sometimes regretted that his mother, Attia had taken in the boy when he was just a babe, but he was a bright kid had to admit. Solan had lived with him and his sister, Octavia all his life. Although he was never of noble blood and surely not a Roman, he was accepted into the family, but not entirely as an equal. Octavius never saw Solan as a brother but a nephew as they were very far apart in age. Solan attended school in Rome with the other boys and had many friends there. He was very likeable in school and Attia made sure that he was treated respectively in the house of Julii. Octavius often envied the boy as he grew up with a life that he wasn't truly connected to. His parents were deceased as far as he knew and he was raised as a Roman. Must be nice not to grow up knowing that one day you will never take over the Roman Empire, Octavius told himself.

Solan ran to Octavia as she was quietly guiding the servants as they continued to decorate for tonight's special guest.

"What are you doing?" Solan asked hugging his aunt figure from behind.

Octavia smiled warmly, "Solan, you scared me! Has my brother not told you? We are preparing for-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, for that Xena lady. What's so special about her anyway?" he sat down stealing a few grapes from the center table.

Nothing is really special about her, Octavia silently told herself. "She is to attend the games with us, but tonight we dine with her," she peered behind her and saw Solan stealing some grapes and dates from the bowl. She smacked his hand and he had a mouth full of fruit. "Don't eat anymore of that! That is for tonight!"

Solan smiled cheekily, "I didn't eat lunch, okay?" he put the fruit back into the bowl sheepishly, "I'll leave it alone. So what's this Xena like? I've only heard some things about her from the boys at school."

Octavia didn't wish to talk to Solan about the conqueror as she didn't really care for her and wondered why her brother had even suggested that they throw a welcoming party for the witch.

"She's a barbaric woman, Solan. She has conquered many lands outside of the Roman Empire. Your great uncle despised her, although," she laughed, "it's easy to despise that Thracian witch."

Solan nodded lounging on a couch, "so are the legends true then? Can she really breathe fire from her mouth like a dragon? I bet she is really ugly," he laughed.

The redheaded woman shook her head, "no, that is not true Solan and don't say things like that at the dinner tonight. It's best that you don't talk to her at all, alright?"

"She can't be that bad," he scoffed.

Octavia knelt down and took Solan's hands into her own, "just don't talk to her, okay? Let Octavius do all the talking. You're just there to observe. This is your first formal dinner," she smiled and cupped his cheek into her hand. "No go get cleaned up and I will talk to you later."

Solan left the room in no rush and stole a pear from the fruit bowl and ran out of the room before his aunt could yell at him again.

* * *

Xena's men sounded horns and the Roman gates were opened. She rode in on a black stallion wearing the golden dress that she had picked out for the journey. Her hair was wrapped in a bun and she wore a gold crown with a black mesh veil draping over her broad shoulders. Her eyes looked over the entourage and she knew she was definitely in the right place. At the entrance of Octavius's home was the man himself with a sad grin upon his face. A smile came to her lips as she saw the man. Along with him there was his sister Octavia, Tiberius, his elite guard and a rather tall young boy with short sandy hair and big brown eyes.

Xena dismounted from her horse and stood in front of Octavius. He graciously kissed her hand after a long pause of intense glaring at the woman.

"Xena, welcome to Rome," he smiled forcefully and she nodded still smiling.

Xena went passed him handing her cape to her maid, Racha who followed behind her. They entered the main entrance and she looked around at all of the decorations. "All of this...for me?" she turned around lacing her fingers together, eyes widening. "You shouldn't have gone through the trouble, Octavius."

Octavia rolled her eyes at the conqueror woman. She really didn't understand why her brother told her that she had to be nice to her. She was an enemy of Rome, but as Caesar once said, enemies must remain close to your hearth.

Solan glanced from afar at the conqueror woman. She was very tall and intimidating, but she was definitely not ugly. She was rather beautiful, exotic maybe was the word he was looking for. Her raven hair only brought out her high cheekbones and bright icy blue eyes and crimson stained lips. How could someone that looks like that, be so hated by the Romans, he thought?

Xena turned around and looked at Solan. She smiled at the boy and now was handed a glass of wine before entering the dining hall.

Half an hour into the dinner and it was very awkward. Hardly anyone said a word but Xena seemed to make herself at home, downing all of the wine that came her way. Octavius didn't know how the woman could keep a straight face after a fourth glass of wine. He set his own chalice down and cleared his throat causing everyone to stop quietly conversing.

"So the games are tomorrow, Xena. Is your gladiator prepared?" he asked biting into a piece of bread.

Xena shrugged, "of course she is ready, my men are trained by the best of the best," she winked at the emperor biting into a strawberry.

Solan spoke up, "your gladiator is a _woman_?!" he received a glare from Octavia and he sunk down into his chair remembering his place again.

Xena halted and licked her fingers smiling at the young man at the table. "What's your name, boy?"

Solan suddenly felt all eyes on him and regretted even speaking in the first place. What has he gotten himself into.

Octavius interrupted, "don't pay attention to him. He is being rather rude..." he glared at Solan.

Xena put a hand on his and smiled, "don't worry Octavius, I'm not going to bite his head off, not yet anyway," she jested. Her face now stone and unreadable, "I asked for your name boy, will you give it to me or shall I have to force it out of you?"

"That isn't necessary," Octavius said slightly embarrassed at her table manners.

Xena smiled, "are you the boy's puppet? I think he can speak for himself," her attention now focused on the blonde teenager before her. "I'm waiting," she sipped from her chalice raising her eyebrows.

Solan's face flushed and he looked at his aunt and uncle for some help but they obviously were not happy that he spoke in the first place. He looked back at the conqueror at the head of the table and said meekly, "my name is Solan."

Xena felt her heart sink and suddenly felt sick. That couldn't be _her_ Solan, could it? No, it couldn't be. How could a son of hers end up living with Romans, especially the Julii House. She refused to believe it, but the longer she stared at him the more she saw Borias in his face as well as her own and perhaps a bit of her younger brother, Lyceus as well. She felt all eyes on her now and she threw her napkin on the table and stood up.

"Excuse me, I am...not feeling well, it has been a long journey for me and my men. I think I will turn in for the evening, if you all don't mind?" she smiled graciously and everyone stood up.

Octavius was surprised at Xena's sudden urge to leave the dining hall. He did not have many meetings with this woman, but her actions always proved to be devious and he was sure this was one of her plans, but for what he didn't know. He bowed to her slightly, "if that is what you wish, Xena, my men will show you to your sleeping quarters."

She nodded, "thank you," Xena's eyes averted from Solan's gaze as she left the room. Suddenly all those feelings inside of her came back to the first time she had to say goodbye to Solan when he was a few days old. Something that she didn't need, didn't want, especially right now.

Xena was shown to her sleeping quarters and Racha followed her in the room and closed the door behind her. The room was beautiful and adorned with the finest silk on the bed and the windows with the clearest glass.

The conqueror ripped off her crown from her head along with her veil and threw it across the room, shattering the mirror. Racha flinched at her mistress's sudden outburst and took a gracious step backward.

"my queen?" she said hesitantly, "is something wrong?"

Xena composed herself taking a deep breath in, "I'm fine Racha...just get out."

Racha trembled in her words, "are...you sure? You seem disturbed...?"

Xena turned around eyes wide with fury, "I said... _get out_!" she said calmly with a steady tone making her point very clear that she wanted to be alone.

Racha nodded, "yes mistress," she quickly exited the bedroom not wishing to stay another minute.

The conqueror sat on the bed and grabbed her dagger from her hilt on her thigh throwing it at the wall angrily. The dagger landed just above the now broken mirror and she stared at her reflection in the shattered glass. She felt a tear stream down her cheek, a tear, something she hasn't felt on her skin in many moons. The tear landed on her palm and she stared at her now tear stained hand watching the droplet fall off her palm and onto the marble floor beneath her feet.

The tear perhaps signaling a sign of weakness and pure hurt now made the conqueror livid and she frowned, feeling the tension building up inside of her. Wiping the evidence of any emotion she claimed to shed off her cheek she stood up and left her room in a rage.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: This is quite a long chapter because it has a lot going on. Good luck and enjoy :)**

_Chapter 6_

Xena came storming out of her room and saw her maid was standing close by. She brushed passed her and walked down the unfamiliar hallway. A few servants looked her way and averted their eyes as she walked by them. Xena exited the villa and her eyes scanned the open area looking for a certain messenger boy of hers. Her eyes narrowed when she finally laid her eyes on the boy who was chatting with a Roman servant boy attending one of Octavius's horses. She approached him and saw the Roman avert his eyes and take a giant step backward and bow his head.

The messenger boy turned around and saw his master behind him and he immediately bowed, afraid of her stern expression and intimidating manner.

Xena lifted the boy's chin slowly, "a word," she eyed the Roman servant, "alone..." she said in a low but very firm tone. The Roman boy left with the horse to attend the animal elsewhere.

The boy gulped, "yes mistress?"

"You have been very good to me for many years, exchanging letters with Borias about our son, Solan. I have a task for you, I want you to find him and tell him to be outside the Roman square tomorrow after the games. I will meet him there alone, but do not tell him this." She made sure her instructions were very clear.

He nodded, "so what will I tell him then?"

Xena folded her arms and smiled, "tell him that someone important will meet him there, understand?"

The messenger nodded and draped his hood over his head and disappeared into the night. Xena watched the young lad descend into the darkness and she turned around to head back into the villa. She saw her gladiator outside by herself talking with one of the Roman servants and she frowned. Marching over to the blonde with quick strides she was not in the mood for any lollygagging.

"Why are you not resting for tomorrow?" Xena asked Gabrielle.

Gabrielle stood up and bowed her head, "I was just heading to bed mistress."

"Well go on! I want you well rested for tomorrow's games. Your life depends on it, _remember_?" she smiled devilishly.

Gabrielle nodded and watched the conqueror tread back into the villa. She sighed heavily and turned around to see the Roman servant had disappeared. She kicked the dirt beneath her feet and retreated back into the servant quarters for bed, as Xena had commanded her to do so. Tomorrow is the day.

* * *

The messenger boy knew where Borias was and he was not far from the inner city but far enough. He made sure to deliver his mistress's demands very clear and precise to the Hungarian. He didn't know what the purpose of this meeting was and he didn't really want to find out as his queen could have something up her sleeve as usual. He found Borias's small villa outside of the city and knocked on the wall as the entrance was open.

The Hungarian stepped out from behind a wall, topless and wore black pants and was barefoot. He seemed out of breath and his body dripping with sweat. The boy unveiled himself and Borias shook his head.

"What does the _conqueror_ want now?" his voice dripping with sarcasm. He washed his face in the water basin on a table near the kitchen.

The boy came closer and was nervous to even be here knowing that his master was very close by. He wondered if Borias knew that Xena was in the same proximity as him.

"My queen wants you to come the outside of the Roman square tomorrow after the games."

Borias eyed the young boy and then his posture became more serious. "How does she know that I am in Rome?"

Xena had not told him what to say if Borias asked this question although he knew that his mistress would surely know that Borias would indeed ask this question.

"How did she find out?" he held the boy by his cloak and pushed him against the wall. "did _you_ tell her?"

The boy scrambled for words, "no! No...she must have found out, I don't know! I'm just here to deliver her message! Please!" he held up his hands in surrender.

Borias let the boy go and paced around the sitting area with his hands on his hips. "Am I meeting someone outside of the square?" he asked the frightened boy.

He nodded, "yes but she didn't specify who," he lied for his mistress.

Borias started laughing and shook his head, "Xena and her...lovely..games!" he smashed his fist on the table knocking off one of the books laying upon it. he turned his attention back to the messenger, "tell her I'll be there, but I will be armed. I don't want to be ambushed," he sighed and rubbed his chin. "don't tell her that last part though," he kept his gaze firmly on the wall in front of him.

The messenger quickly exited Borias's home and hurried back to the villa.

Borias kept his focus on the wall, which had a painting from Chin he had acquired during one of his raids with Xena so long ago. He didn't know what she was up to but he knew that whatever it was couldn't be good. One question he couldn't answer was, how did she know that he was in Rome? He felt uneasy about this meeting tomorrow, but if this was Xena's orders he didn't want to disappoint her. The thought of giving Solan to the Roman noble family weighed heavily on his mind and he had kept this secret from Xena for fifteen years. I have betrayed you, Xena. I'm sorry.

* * *

Xena was sitting in her room on the second floor of the Roman villa. She saw her hooded messenger return and he looked very afraid and out of breath. She eyed him and the tight string of the bow creaked as she pulled back the arrow. She released the arrow and it launched into her messenger's chest and the boy doubled over and fell onto the ground gasping for air. He held the arrow in his hands and blood began to flow freely from his heart and mouth as he slowly felt his life slipping away from him.

She set the bow aside and walked away from the large window, closing the curtains after she completed what needed to be done. She couldn't have anybody know about this meeting except herself. Tomorrow, she told herself. Vengeance will be mine.

* * *

Octavius, Tiberius, Octavia and Solan sat in front row seats in the pulvinus awaiting for the games to begin. Xena arrived later than everyone else and she sat in the second row. Her eyes immediately went to Solan who seemed to be enjoying himself as he awaited for the gladiators to compete. She couldn't help but stare a little too long, but this was the first time she had seen him since he was a baby. Solan turned around and saw that she was staring at him and he smiled at her meekly.

Xena smiled at him tenderly and he seemed to stare at her for quite some time, so she began to feel her cheeks flush red and she averted her gaze to Racha who stood behind her. She gestured for her to get some wine while they were waiting.

Solan turned around and nudged his aunt gently in the arm, "the conqueror seems...nice," he nodded.

Octavia turned her head and saw Xena drinking wine rather rapidly from her chalice and then she came around to face Solan again. She whispered softly in his ear, "she's not a nice person, Solan. Don't talk to her, you did enough talking to her last night."

Solan sighed, "she just smiled at me! Is that weird of her?" his eyes turned back to the conqueror and saw that she was looking outward into the arena completely engaged in the upcoming event.

Octavia rolled her eyes and cupped Solan's cheek, "she's probably thinking of what seasonings to put on your heart once she rips it out," she jested and giggled a bit.

Xena saw Octavia's hand on Solan's cheek and she felt a sense of envy, or was it something more? She had not felt like this before but she didn't want that Roman woman's hand on her son's cheek. Then she remembered that none of them knew that Solan was her son and she had to remain calm.

Racha touched Xena's shoulder pulling her out of her intense emotional state. "mistress, water?" she gestured to fill her cup.

Xena handed her the cup and nodded, keeping her eye on Solan the entire time.

* * *

Gabrielle was below the arena and could hear thousands of people cheering and chattering. The slaves had put minimal armor on her body and she was not sure how anyone could survive with this kind of armor. She was also given a weapon that was unfamiliar to her which couldn't be good because she had never used them before. She twirled the Sais in her hands to get a good feel of them. They could be used as a defensive weapon or an attack mechanism. Perhaps these weapons weren't so bad after all.

Suddenly she heard loud horns sounded and the gate she was standing behind opened. She felt her heart sink into her stomach. She didn't even know who she was fighting yet but she was very sure that the male would be ten times her size and it would obviously be an unfair fight she presumed. Gabrielle stepped out pulling the helmet's face guard over her face. It wasn't completely obvious that she was a woman except for her breast plate was the only thing that gave it away. To her surprise she didn't hear any booing or defiant commentary from the crowd. Her eyes immediately went to the pulvinus and saw Xena sitting behind the elite Roman family in the front row. She saw that Xena was mildly distracted and did not make eye contact with her at all, hoping that she would, she became a bit disappointed that her master had not even acknowledged her before she was about to be possibly beaten to death. No matter, Gabrielle told herself, I just need to win, that's all, then she _will_ notice me.

Gabrielle stepped into the middle of the arena and glanced around waiting for her opponent to appear. She felt her hands starting to sweat the longer she waited. Her eyes remained focus on her surroundings. She heard the voice of Octavius in the pulvinus and his hands gestured to the opposing gate and she saw it open and the tall, large gladiator stepped out with a huge sword and large shield. Gabrielle didn't have a shield so this may prove to be a difficult, long fight. Her eyes went to the conqueror and Xena finally eyed her with a smirk on her crimson lips as she sipped from her chalice.

Taking a deep breath in she saw her opponent near her and he began to circle her like an animal. She couldn't make out his face or eyes since they were covered by the helmet but she was sure his eyes were wild and filled with rage. She remained calm and collected just like Jalal had trained her when she was young.

The large gladiator lunged forward with his sword in hand and Gabrielle dodged it somersaulting to the side. He let out a cry and used his shield to thrust at Gabrielle, but she stepped onto the shield and jumped over the gladiator's head landing on the sand, cutting her left knee. She was now breathing heavily and remained on the defense as she did on the training grounds in Xena's ludus. Gabrielle knew that eventually she would have to attack the man somehow but for now she was just trying to stay alive. She began to think of what Xena said. She was representing Xena and her entire empire in front of the Roman elite and she didn't want to disappoint her so she remained on her toes for any unexpected attacks.

The gladiator was now becoming angry and he spoke to Gabrielle, "why do you not attack me, woman?!" he growled.

Gabrielle centered herself on the sand with her Sais facing towards her opponent. She refused to engage in any conversation with this man and remained focused. The man charged at her with his sword and Gabrielle slid on the sand underneath the man slicing his calves with her Sais. He fell to his knees in agony and she turned around stabbing one of her Sais into his collar bone, causing the gladiator to scream out in pain.

Xena leaned forward and saw Gabrielle had finally attacked the gladiator not once, but twice in a row. She smiled as her trainee was excelling in the fight so far. She eyed Octavius who seemed rather disappointed in his gladiator for not seeing any of these attacks coming his way. Her eyes then darted to Solan who seemed rather excited to be watching the games. She was unsure who he was rooting for as his eyes immediately lit up when Gabrielle struck the gladiator in the collar bone with her Sais.

Solan leaned in towards Octavia with a grand grin, "the conqueror's gladiator is really good. Her skills with those Sais is impeccable," he marveled.

Octavia nodded and patted his hand softly. She turned her head and saw Xena staring at her and Solan intently. She saw the Thracian woman smile coldly at her and she turned back around to gather her attention to the games.

In the arena Gabrielle pulled her weapon out of the gladiator's neck and he held his neck covering his now bleeding wound. She backed up and watched as the man stood up. He was even more angry before the fight began. He came at her at the side and before she could avoid the blow he used his good shoulder to knock her down on her backside. She felt her head begin to throb as she laid on the hot sand. The man was now on top of her, not allowing her to get up or even move from her spot.

"This is where you die! Women don't belong in the arena!" he yelled and threw his shield to the side and Gabrielle saw what a stupid man this was. He held his sword close to her throat and then suddenly she used her knee to thrust into his groin. He doubled over in pain and she head-butted his helmet causing him to fall backward onto his rear.

Gabrielle then stood up and grabbed his shield that he stupidly threw to the side. She ran to the left side of the arena far away from her opponent. She heard the crowd begin to boo her as they saw her retreat from the fight.

Xena frowned as she saw her little gladiator run to the other side of the arena. What on earth is she doing? Fight, damn you. She clenched her fists and lifted off her seat a bit so she could see.

Gabrielle dug the shield into the sand and positioned it north of the arena. She saw the man get up finally from the blow and he was obviously filled with rage. He picked up his sword and began charging at her. She pulled the shield back towards her body hoping that this would work. Jalal had taught her a few tricks that were used in battle all the time. She was beginning to become very nervous that her plan wasn't going to work especially with how fast the gladiator was running towards her.

She finally got the right angle of the shield and she grinned as the sunlight reflected onto the shield directly into the gladiator's eyes temporarily blinding him. He wasn't able to see now and his eyes burned immensely from the intense sun beam. This was her chance, her chance to win. She grabbed her Sais from the inside of her sandals that were wrapped around her calves and charged towards him. She stabbed him in his ribs and the other in his inner thigh. He screamed as she dug the blades deeper into his skin.

Pulling the Sais out of his skin she saw the bleed seep from his wounds and he would surely die soon, but the only way to truly win a gladiator game was to kill and she was contemplating what to do next. She looked to the pulvinus and awaited for Octavius to make his decision. Her chest rising and falling as her breathing began to quicken as she awaited the verdict.

The gladiator barely stood up and he stared at the little warrior before him. There was no way that he was going to lose to this scrawny woman. He grabbed his shield and hobbled over to the female gladiator.

Gabrielle heard the sound of footsteps and turned around to see he was still alive and coming towards her at a rather fast pace. She ran towards him knocking the shield from his weak grasp. She plunged her Sais into both sides of his neck, puncturing his jugular. Surely he was dead now or rather, suffering a slow painful death. She gritted her teeth as she removed her Sais from her opponent's neck. He fell to his knees and held his neck, feeling his warm blood flow freely down his arms and chest armor. She heard the crowd cheer once they saw that the gladiator was now defeated.

She removed her helm and threw it aside, revealing her short golden locks and triumphant face. She smiled holding her Sais above her head in an 'X'.

Xena smiled and stood up clapping her hands. Everyone else followed and clapped slowly showing their lack of enthusiasm that Xena's gladiator had indeed won.

Solan's smile grew as he saw the small female gladiator bathe in the crowd's cheers and passion. "I want to examine this gladiator in person, Octavia," he said.

His aunt figure frowned at him and his eagerness. She stopped clapping and was about to make her way towards the exit with her brother. Solan still stood at the front of the pulvinus watching the young gladiator descend back to the barracks of the arena. He turned around and saw that the conqueror was chatting with her servant girl. He really wanted to congratulate her on her winning the games, but remembered what Octavia had said. It would be rude not to send his congratulations to the woman, he thought.

Solan made his way towards the conqueror woman and saw that she halted in speaking with the servant.

Xena saw her son approaching her and she instantly wanted to turn and leave so she would avoid talking to him, but it seems that it was too late for that. She stilled herself, feeling her heart beating faster than usual the closer he came to her.

"I wanted to congratulate you on your winnings," he held out his hand with a crooked smile.

Xena's eyes looked to his hand and then back into his brown marbles. She took his hand cautiously and nodded her head accepting his offer graciously. Solan then kissed her knuckles and she hesitantly watched him then slowly retracted her hand from his hold.

"If possible," Solan said in a hushed tone, "I'd like to see your gladiator up close at the villa," he smiled and stepped back now a feet away from the conqueror.

Xena really wanted to smile, but she knew that she had to remain stoic. She nodded, " _well_ ," she began and grabbed her cloak wrapping it around her shoulders covering her black gown donned with a silver plated corset. "I have some business to attend to at the moment. Perhaps when I return," she then left without waiting for Solan's response.

He watched her leave and inside he was secretly excited about this. His aunt really didn't like Xena he knew this, but he couldn't resist talking to her, she was fascinating. Way better than the Romans, he thought. He followed behind her shortly after to join Octavius and Octavia on the way back to the villa.

* * *

Sunset was nearing and Xena made sure that she was not to be disturbed for a few hours, orders that she gave Racha and a couple of her guards standing outside of her room. She saw that they had cleaned up that little incident that occurred earlier. She mounted her black stallion and draped a large black hood over her head disguising her appearance. She rode off quickly disappearing from the inner city.

Half a candlemark later she arrived at the outskirts of the city and dismounted her horse tying him to a nearby tree. She would walk the rest of the way, hoping that her guest of honor would be there waiting for her. She pulled her hood over her face to cover her face and she walked onward.

She arrived outside of the forest in a timely manner and she saw a black hooded figure glancing around. She was behind him now and she unsheathed her dagger from her hip slowly approaching the hooded figure. She grabbed the man from behind and flipped him over onto his back and held the dagger at his throat. The hood fell off and Borias's eyes widened as he saw the dagger was nearly cutting his skin.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed and tried to break free.

Xena unveiled her face and smiled at Borias, "surprised to see me?" her eyes became wild with rage and Borias's mouth gaped.

" _Xena_?" he was at a loss for words. "For gods' sake, what are you doing?!" he struggled to get free not caring that the blade was up against his neck anymore.

She shook her head "oh no, no, **no**...we need to have _words_ ," she pressed the dagger deeper into his skin.

He stared into those blue eyes he hadn't seen in fifteen years and somehow she still looked the same. Her black bangs covering her eyebrows and her smile ever so enticing. She was still as beautiful as he remembered. Suddenly he realized that she was very close to killing him so he thought he'd comply.

"So let us have words..." he held up his hands in surrender.

Xena got off of him and he stood up to face her. His hair no longer long and braided, but cropped short, although he still kept his goatee and earrings. This was the first time she had laid eyes on him since they decided to part ways. These passed two days had been far too emotional for her to handle and seeing him made her angry, upset, hurt and confused all at once. She wasn't sure how to process these feelings at the moment.

"...how did you find me here...why are..." he breathed slowly, "why are you in Rome?"

Xena frowned, "I'll ask the questions here, Borias!" she pointed the dagger at him and he frowned.

"Put that away Xena, we are friends here," he said calmly not fearing her at all.

She was becoming angry now and she charged at him then stopped inches from his face. Both staring at one another. Brown eyes met blue eyes and she slapped his face, hard. And again. And _again_.

"I asked you to do _one_ thing!" she yelled and then raised her hand to hit his face again until he grabbed her wrist halting her. She groaned and pulled her hand away.

Xena breathed heavily then stepped away from him putting her dagger into its holster. She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath in. "How could you do this?" she narrowed her eyes and saw he was totally puzzled, so she figured he knew what she meant.

"I ought to kill you right now," she folded her arms staring directly at him.

Borias swallowed his own pride and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry."

" _What_ did you say?" she raised an eyebrow and then came towards him grabbing his throat and pushing him against a nearby tree trunk. "Say it!"

"I'm...sorry," he struggled to say as her grasp became tighter and tighter.

So he was not completely oblivious she thought. She pushed her body against his making it harder for him to escape her grasp although it appeared that he was not even trying to at this point.

"you betrayed me! How...how could you give our _son_ to the Romans?" she finally said it and it hurt her inside to even speak of these words. She growled and then released her hold on Borias's neck and body. She stepped back and paced around in a circle with her hands on her hips.

"Do you remember when you were sick with fever in Egypt?" he said randomly.

Xena eyed him and stopped her pacing. She looked at him confused and scoffed, "what relevance does that have?"

He sighed, "do you remember?" he insisted she answer his question.

She humored him and smiled in mock, "no not really, no." she folded her arms dying to know where he was going with this. "that was fifteen summers ago, Borias! _How_ would I remember that?"

"that was the time your men betrayed you," he claimed this to be fact, since he was there, he remembered and she didn't.

She was intrigued now, but she still wanted to rip his throat out. "What are you talking about?"

* * *

_Egypt, Fifteen Summers Ago_

Xena and her army had landed in Egypt just about a week ago in Alexandria, which was currently occupied by Caesar's Roman elite soldiers. She had decided that she wanted to gain trading agreements in Alexandria and Cairo after their last escapade in Carthage, Tunis. Her navy had stopped at the Nile's port and was stationed at land and sea. During their stay, which had been seven days so far, Xena caught a fever and was unable to command her army on land in Egypt.

Her next in command took over without questioning it. Xena stayed in her ship with her servant, as she told everyone to leave her alone until she was well again. She was mildly forced by her maid to stay on the ship and not get everyone else sick in her army. As she was very contagious and needed to rest. This would be two months before Xena's confrontation with Caesar in Rome and the destruction of her camp and army, as well as the birth of her son.

Borias stayed on land but his thoughts were not on trade with these Egyptian pirates, but on Xena. He would occasionally glance back at her ship which floated on the white sea miles from land. Xena had told him to negotiate with the Egyptian traders as he was much better at that than her and since she was forbidden to go on land, he would have to do the job himself.

One hot afternoon Borias stood at the port of the Nile bargaining with a Persian over bags of grain. He managed to get over ten thousand bags of grain for half the price. It was either that or death by blade and the Persian was rather fair compared to the Egyptians, he noted. He would definitely trade with them again. Once he gave the gold to Xena's treasurer he decided that he needed to go to her ship to check up on her. He had not laid eyes on her in over four days now. He figured that she would be feeling better by now as she'd been on the ship for a week now, hopefully, he thought.

Making his way into the market he saw a group of Xena's men gathered around drinking alcohol underneath a shaded tent. He rolled his eyes at them and decided to buy some fruit and wine while he was in the area, as well as some thyme, to give to Xena's hand maiden to make tea. He knew that the girl wasn't able to leave by herself and sure she had run out of the herb by now. Gathering the items he purchased in a small bag that hung off his shoulder he sat down in the back of a small cafe, drinking some water before he made his trek to the ship.

As he sat by himself drinking his glass of water he heard some men talking behind a curtained area. He recognized those voices and it was a few of Xena's men. He moved in closer to a different table to listen in. he was behind the curtain acutely listening to their hushed conversation.

"Xena wants us to go to Cyprus next, but I think that we should go to Rome and ally with Caesar. He has offered us better pay than Xena ever could manage. He also told us that if Xena comes to Rome that he will get rid of her, for good." One of the men said.

Another replied, "Xena will find out, she _always_ finds out."

Borias smiled at this. It was true that Xena knew everything about everyone. She was definitely in their business all the time.

"No, no, listen, Ajax has gone to Rome right now. He left a few days ago. He is going to negotiate with Caesar and if he agrees then Xena will receive a letter from Caesar asking her to travel to Rome."

"So, what does that exactly mean?" another chimed in.

The man laughed, "really? You are so dense! Xena wants to destroy Caesar! Ever since he nailed her to that crucifix she has wanted to rip his heart out! It's perfect. We get her to go to Rome, then Caesar destroys her."

Borias's eyes widened and he didn't know if he should tell Xena about this right now, but he knew that he had to or else she would probably die. She and their child would die and he didn't want that to happen.

"Alright I'm in," Borias heard one of them say and another man agreed as well.

"Hopefully we get out of this sandy ass place soon. It's too hot here," a young man complained.

Another agreed, "well Xena is ill right now so I don't think we'll be leaving any time soon."

"Maybe she'll die, I hear that fever is deadly!" he slightly laughed.

Borias got up as he didn't want to hear any more of what these idiots were saying. Sure, he had hard feelings for Xena, but that was quite enough. He made his way to the port and told one of Xena's men to take him to the ship immediately.

Minutes later Borias was dropped off at Xena's ship and he climbed aboard and told the guard to go back to the shore and wait for his signal so he could come back to land. He saw that there were no crew on the ship except the women that Xena kept with her. One of them was scrubbing the deck and averted her gaze as soon as he stepped aboard. He ignored the young girl and went down below in the bottom of the ship. He knocked on the door and the servant girl slowly opened the door.

"I brought some things..." he opened the bag and she peered inside and saw wine, fruit and herbs. She nodded and took the bag from his grasp allowing him to enter the room. Xena's room was rather large and pretty ornate for a room on a ship. A lot of jewelry was hung on the walls and on her vanity as well. There were many sheer curtains surrounding her bed and he quietly made his way towards her bed. He didn't hear her make any retort as he entered the room.

He peered into the curtains and saw that she was in a black sleeveless dress, her waist-long hair was sprawled out across a large burgundy pillow and her eyes closed with a wet cloth on her forehead pushing back her thick bangs. The servant girl put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at the girl.

"I finally got her to sleep for a few hours," she whispered.

Borias nodded and he stepped into the enclosed bed area and sat down on the bed and touched her exposed legs. Her legs were very warm to the touch and he saw her stir in her sleep. It was very obvious that she was carrying a child now and if any of her men saw her like this, she'd definitely have them killed, he knew this. He scooted closer to her and took the cloth off of her forehead and dipped it into fresh water in a basin on her bedside table then placed it back on her forehead.

Xena moved her legs and exhaled deeply, still keeping her eyes closed she rested her hand on her chest, continuing to sleep. Borias brushed her cheek with the backside of his hand, her cheeks were flushed and very warm just as the rest of her body was.

He really wished she was awake so he could tell her what her men had planned, but it seemed it would have to wait. He continued to stare at her as she rested. Borias thought of all the times he wanted to strangle Xena and he could think of one recently, just a few weeks ago when they were in Carthage. She wanted to take over the entire east side of the city, which eventually she did, with a lot of convincing of him and of her men. Some questioned her authority and that didn't end well with them. Those who disobeyed her now had their heads on pikes at the shores of Carthage as a reminder of who she was, who she stood for. He didn't understand why she had to be so cruel sometimes. Sure, he loved to pillage as much as the next person but he often wondered if Xena took things a bit too far to get her point across.

Xena winced her sleep and he saw that she was furrowing her eyebrows. Her body shifted and she lolled her head to the side trying to get comfortable. Letting the curiosity get the best of him he eyed their child, not once had he asked her about how she was doing the last few weeks, although he tried she simply ignored him. He set his hand on her swollen abdomen and waited patiently. After a few short moments he felt small movements beneath his hand and then he felt Xena's hand come over his and she opened her eyes in shock.

She blinked and he removed his hand feeling slightly embarrassed. "Borias?" she managed to say obvious that her throat was very coarse.

"Tamara said that you had been asleep for a few hours now," he told her and saw she was trying to sit up but he pushed her down gently by her shoulders.

Xena frowned and then tried to reach for her glass of water. Borias handed her the glass and she sat up and drank the entire glass then crashed back down onto her pillow. She was closing her eyes again, but still awake. She rolled over onto her side towards Borias.

"I need to tell you something, Xena, something important," he touched her arm and he saw that she blinked slowly opening her eyes.

An inaudible sound was all that she managed to say as her eyes were becoming heavy with exhaustion again.

Borias sighed as he saw she was not coherent enough to have a conversation. Tamara appeared and replaced the cloth with a new cold one and placed it on her forehead. Before she left Borias grabbed the girl's wrist and she halted.

"Will she be alright? I mean..." his words trailed off.

She knew exactly what he meant and she nodded, "as long as she rests then yes. Do the others know that you're here?" she questioned.

"no," he shook his head. "I'm going to stay here if you don't mind, I mean until she wakes up."

Tamara smiled and nodded leaving to prepare some tea for later when Xena was more aware of the world.

Well into the evening Borias stayed beside Xena and he soon fell asleep sitting up on the bed as she lay beside him passed out. Finally Xena awoke and saw that Borias was sleeping on the bed next to her and she sat up slowly removing the wet cloth from her forehead. She groaned as she felt her head throb and she was feeling rather ill the moment she sat up.

Borias awoke and saw that Xena was now up and leaning against the headboard.

"Finally, you're awake," he said stretching his arms over his head.

Xena eyed him and her face void of color and her hair wild. "What are you doing here?" she said after drinking a large glass of water.

He didn't want to tell her that he stayed here on the ship alone for hours, or that he showed any affection toward her as she seemed to not like that. "I was just checking up on you _and_ our child."

She nodded and smirked, "of course you were," she patted his thigh and turned over to the side of the bed and threw up the water she had just ingested.

Borias grabbed her shoulders and she frowned shrugging her shoulders. "Don't touch me," she said breathlessly. He frowned at her lack of affection towards the situation and he got off the bed folding his arms. She sat back against the headboard once more and rubbed her temples.

"What?" she looked at him and he was staring at her intently. "I'm fine, just please stop staring at me, I'm not going to die." She sighed.

Borias knew that she wouldn't be able to handle the news that he had earlier so he decided to keep this to himself. Perhaps if you lose once, warrior princess, then you will realize that you cannot win every time.

* * *

Xena listened to the story that Borias told her and the more he explained the story the more angry she got. She didn't want to hear that her men had devised her own destruction and that Borias withheld this information from her. If he had told her then perhaps her camp and army would not have gone up in flames and they wouldn't be in the situation they were currently in.

"How dare you?" Xena said.

Borias couldn't disagree with her but he had his reasons why he did this. Suddenly Xena had pushed him onto the ground and she was on top of him.

"You kept these secrets from me all these years? How could you?!" she exclaimed and grabbed her dagger from her hilt again.

"You told me to take Solan away from you! What was I supposed to do?" he spat in her face.

Xena let out a cry, "I'd rather raise him myself than let him be raised by those Roman dogs!"

"Because we both know how well that would've turned out," he blandly retorted.

Xena felt her emotions clouding her mind again and her eyes filled with tears, not willing to shed them. She kept her focus on Borias's brown eyes, who's were dry, but intense, not with fear, but perhaps sorrow and anger at himself. She ripped his tunic open exposing his tanned chest and she carved her initial into his chest. He did not flinch or cry out, but he held in his agony the deeper she cut.

"you..." she continued to mark her large X," betrayed," she was finishing the marking, " _ **me**_ ," she dug the dagger deeper make the X very present on his skin now.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: this chapter is more focused on one place between the conflicts picked up from last chapter. Lucky that I made time to write this as I don't know when I'll write the next chapter. Enjoy :) and thanks for reading, everyone.**

_Chapter 7_

Xena stared directly into Borias's brown widened eyes. He was not fearful of her, no he couldn't be, he knew her too well, or so he thought. That's what he thinks, Xena told herself. She smiled as she was still straddled on top of his body admiring the marking that she carved into his chest. He will forever be branded with her initial. Good, she remarked. She then licked the remaining blood off her dagger's sharp blade.

Borias raised an eyebrow as he watched her marvel in his defeat and shame. He was disgusted at Xena's behavior, he remembered Xena being cruel and sometimes even heartless but never like this. She got off of his body and sheathed her dagger on her hip. He sat up and watched as he was fixing her bracers and shifting her corset casually.

His mouth gaped open as he could not believe what just happened. What on earth has made Xena so malicious to commit such carnage?

"You still haven't told me why you're in Rome," he said completely ignoring the stinging pain on his bare chest. He stood up and wrapped the cloak around his still-exposed torso.

Xena eyed him and smiled, "wouldn't you like to know?"

He stared at her blinking slowly waiting for her response but he received nothing. So he added, "yes I would actually."

"No, I think," she began to chuckle, "the real question is, why are _you_ in Rome, Borias?"

He cleared his throat fixing his ruffled appearance, "I live here temporarily."

Xena grinned nodding her head, "do you, now?" she said folding her arms, mocking his stance.

"Yes."

She pursed her lips and curtly nodded her head, pretending to actually care what he was saying. She then came closer to Borias and began circling him like a vulture would his prey. Her fingertips traced his neck and soon to be scarred chest ever so softly. Borias watched her carefully as she circled around his entire body until she stopped in front of him inches from his face.

"so, all of those letters that were sent back and forth between myself and you," she pointed at him and raised her eyebrows, "you were watching Solan the entire time. Now..." she smiled and pressed against his body backing up against the tree once more. "He doesn't even know you exist, does he?" his response was a simple slow shake of the head. "Meanwhile you kept a watchful eye of him for fifteen years...robbing yourself of fatherhood, why is that Borias?" her smile becoming more sensual, teasing his emotions and feelings in all the wrong places.

Borias didn't avert his gaze at her icy blue eyes, but he was starting to feel his body react to her a little too well and he didn't want to give her what she wanted, not this time, Xena.

"You took him away from me, as I asked you to, which is fair," she concluded and her hands started roaming his body, causing him to lose focus and she knew this. "Yet...you had to perfect opportunity to raise him on your own but instead..." she licked the remainder of blood from his 'X' wound now. "you...gave him to the Romans."

Borias closed his eyes and focused on what really mattered here and that was Solan, not Xena's manipulative, conniving temptations.

"I didn't want to raise him without you," he spat out and Xena stopped and smirked.

Xena dug her finger into his fresh wound and gritted her teeth, furrowing her eyebrows. She growled, "you crossed me Borias! You of all people should know what I do to people that cross me!"

He screamed in agony as she pressed her finger deeper into his open wound.

" _How_..." he winced once more, "did you know that I gave Solan...to the Romans?" he breathed heavily as she took her bloody finger out of the 'X' gash.

She frowned, "I saw him," she said in a quiet voice.

He blinked and was still trying to regain his composure. "you saw him? Did you speak to him?"

"I had two brief encounters with him," Xena remained serious and collected.

Borias he starting to feel hopeful inside. She had actually spoke with Solan, something that he was unable to do for all those years he had watched from afar. He wanted to ask her more question but he knew that she probably wouldn't answer them, but to his surprise she spoke more.

"I am going back to meet with him again," she released herself from her hold on his body.

He sighed after a long awkward pause between the two ex-lovers. "so where we do we go from here? You obviously have not killed me, so I must be of _some_ worth to you," he smiled half jokingly.

Xena gave a smug smile as her response. "Solan may be our son but he already has a family. I'm not going to take that away from him, even if they are Roman dogs," she was turning to leave when Borias grabbed her arm. She turned scowling at him.

"you should spend some time with him, Xena..." he let go of her arm, "...even if he doesn't know you're his mother."

Xena didn't respond and pulled the hood over her head and retreated back to her horse on the outskirts of the forest.

* * *

Gabrielle was brought back to the villa and she was in the servant's bathing quarters. She had washed all of the sand off her body now and had a towel wrapped around her body. As she sat in the room by herself she couldn't help but feel proud of her accomplishment today in the arena. She had won against a giant brute and won the acceptance of the conqueror all at the same time. Today was a good day for her. She smiled thinking of her newly earned victory. She wondered if the conqueror was going to reward her like she promised she would, but Gabrielle didn't know how well the conqueror kept her promises.

The more she thought of the woman the more her feelings became conflicted. She still wanted to hate her but at the same time she wanted to thank her for giving her a different perspective on life. She had missed out on growing up with her family and little sister, but knew that training with the Romans had its advantages especially at this time in her life.

Suddenly one of the servants came into the bath area and commanded, "the conqueror summons you to make an appearance in the villa in front of the Julii."

Gabrielle didn't know what the conqueror wanted from her but she stood up exiting the room to put on some clothes that were given to her by the servants in the villa. What could she possibly want?

* * *

Xena still dressed in her black gown and silver corset she laid on a chaise lounge sipping on some honey wine and casually eating grapes. Octavia was sitting across from her sitting in a cushioned chair in the quiet room. Octavia desperately wished her brother would join them but he appeared he had other business to attend to.

Solan was sitting on the floor across from a slave boy. They were having a praying mantis boxing match. Each one of their mantises fought each other and they watched patiently. Solan smiled as he saw his mantis was winning the fight. His mantis knocked down the other boy's mantis and Solan stood up yelling in victory.

"Yes! I win! Now you pay me in grapes for the rest of week, Alex," he smirked. The boy smirked and bowed his head, gathering the insects and retreated back to his quarters for the evening.

Xena hid her smile behind her wine glass as she watched Solan parade in his victorious bug match. It was a silly thing, but if it was something that he enjoyed then she could watch him play with bugs all day if she had to.

Solan made his way over to the two women and smiled at both of them, he grabbed a glass of wine and sat down on a giant floor pillow. He crossed his legs in front of him and sipped his wine staring at the conqueror woman in front of him.

"so is your gladiator coming to join us very soon?" he asked Xena.

Xena stopped and looked at him with a small grin, "yes she shall be here shortly."

Solan stood up immediately alarming the two women and he raised his hand in excitement, "I almost forgot!" he ran out of the room quickly leaving the women puzzled.

Octavia stared at Solan as he left the room then downed her wine. She hadn't talked to Xena all day and she didn't even have words with her two days ago at the welcoming dinner.

"Where has he gone off to?" Xena asked in a soft voice.

Octavia eyed the woman carefully, weary of her intentions, "I do not know." She replied curtly.

Gabrielle was escorted into the lounge area and saw Xena laying down on a couch opposite of Octavia. She didn't eye either one of them but simply walked in front of them and stood waiting for her commands.

Xena smiled at her blonde gladiator, "so you have finally arrived. You have proved your worth to me, little one. Good job to you," she stood up and grabbed a glass of wine from the tray Racha was holding and walked over to Gabrielle. She handed her the glass of wine, "go on, little one, take it," she winked at her gladiator.

Gabrielle smiled meekly and took the glass graciously. Xena lifted her glass in a small toast to her victory in the arena. Gabrielle followed and both drank from their glasses.

Xena stared into Gabrielle's eyes and something seemed so familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it, not quite. The silent staring contest between the two was halted when Solan re-entered the room interrupting their moment.

Solan smiled at the blonde warrior, "finally! You are here! I am so glad that the conqueror was able to make this happen." He said joyfully.

Xena went back to lay down the chaise and noticed that her little warrior was feeling a bit uncomfortable with all the eyes on her. Solan walked up to Gabrielle and scanned her body from head to toe. What is he doing, she wondered?

The teenager turned to Xena and asked, "may I touch her?"

The conqueror was a little taken aback by this request but she gestured for him to go ahead and do as he pleased. She watched as Solan grazed his fingers through Gabrielle's soft blonde locks and then touched her shoulders gingerly. He felt the gladiator woman tense at his touch and he smiled.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Solan reassured her and he went to her backside examining her legs and sculpted calves.

He then walked to the front of her and sat on the floor in between the two women once more and smiled at the gladiator. He pulled out his golden pen and opened his sketch pad that Octavius had given him for school.

Xena peered over Solan's shoulder and saw that he was holding the pen that she gave him for his birthday and she smiled inwardly at this. Good, he actually used the gift. Solan looked at Gabrielle studiously and then turned to the conqueror.

"May she disrobe?"

Gabrielle felt her cheeks flush and her body stiffen as soon as the young boy said that. What is this and would the conqueror allow this? She hoped not. She was embarrassed enough being the star of their entertainment.

Xena looked at Solan then back at Gabrielle. "Why?" she asked in a calm tone.

Solan smiled, "I'd like to draw her. My professor at school would love to see this. A gladiator from the Destroyer of Nations herself, what a marvel!" he was clearly excited about this, hoping that Xena would accept his request.

The conqueror's eyes bore into Gabrielle's petrified eyes then back to her eager son's eyes. She had only met him two days ago and yet she did not want to disappoint him, but her gladiators were not to be used as toys either. It was rather harmless, she thought. She'd have to reward her slave later, she thought. The longer she thought the more quiet the room became and Solan's smile was starting to disappear. She didn't want to see the smile wipe off his handsome face so she complied with his request.

"Zehra," Xena commanded, "disrobe for him."

Gabrielle almost forgot that she went by that name as she hardly ever heard the conqueror call her by her 'name'. She stared at Xena for a long while and saw that the woman was obviously very serious about this task.

"I _said_ disrobe," Xena set her hand on her whip that was hoisted on her hip and Gabrielle's eyes immediately saw this so she began to slip off her one shoulder dress slowly and it fell to the floor, leaving her body totally exposed.

Octavia averted her eyes elsewhere and saw that Solan was not the least enthralled that the woman before him was naked, but the fact that he appreciate her body as a work of art astounded her. She only wished that her brother had artistic value such as Solan had.

An hour had passed and Gabrielle hoped that this strange and unusual torture would end very soon. She no longer felt embarrassed or ashamed of her body but she was just super uncomfortable that a young teenager was drawing her and continued to stare at her intently. He sometimes came to her and told her to move her body in a certain way. Her eyes occasionally glanced over at Xena who seemed to be enjoying the sight in front of her, but she didn't know why. She couldn't tell if she was enjoying her humiliation or if she was enjoying the sight of her body.

Octavia excused herself from the room as her brother had sent for her. She told both of her guests that she wouldn't be long and Xena nodded continuing the drink the wine in front of her.

Solan focused on his drawing before him then turned around and saw the conqueror woman eating a few grapes and she stared at him, expecting him to say something to her.

He smiled and scooted over to the chaise lounge, "would you like to see the drawing?" he asked, his voice filled with hope that she would at least look at it.

Xena sat up and took the sketch pad from Solan's grasp looking over the drawing. She was impressed at his artistic skills, which he certainly did not inherent from her.

"It's very good, Solan," she nodded handing the sketch pad back to him.

Solan beamed, "really?! I never show my drawings to anyone."

Xena suddenly felt special and she saw the gleam in his brown eyes. The very eyes that reminded her of Borias. "Is that so?" she sipped from her glass again.

He nodded, "my aunt never really cared for my drawings and says that I shouldn't waste my time drawing but focus on what really matters –politics!" he said in a mocking tone of Octavius, his adopted uncle. He smiled as he saw that the conqueror seemed amused at this.

"Politics aren't everything, you know," Xena shrugged the idea off and then noticed that her little warrior was still standing there. She looked to Solan and pointed at Gabrielle, "are you finished with my gladiator?"

Solan felt slightly embarrassed leaving the woman completely naked and ignored. "Oh yes! Sorry, you may put your clothes back on now," he said with flushed cheeks.

Xena spoke to Gabrielle now, averting her attention from Solan, "go wait for me in my room, Racha will take you." She smiled and saw that her little Zehra was even more confused than before.

Racha took Gabrielle by the arm and lead her out of the room up to the second floor where Xena stayed for the remainder of her trip.

Now it was just Solan and Xena in the room together. There was so much that she wanted to tell him, so much that she wanted to say. She thought about him every day for these last fifteen years, but now that she was in front of him for the first time, she couldn't say anything to him or rather she didn't know _what_ to say to him.

Solan sat on the chair across from Xena and marveled at his drawing of the blonde gladiator. He was really impressed with himself and he also got to share his drawing with this conqueror woman. He was very curious about her. He had heard some terrible things about her growing up in school with the wealthy classmates of his. They told him that she put heads on pikes and that she breathed fire like a dragon, but that's about it. he didn't really pay attention to anything else that they said about her. Now that she was in front of him he wanted to ask her so many questions but Octavia warned him not to talk to her, but it seems he had already broken that rule. Since his aunt wasn't here he figured that he'd take this opportunity to talk to the conqueror alone.

"So, I've heard many things about you," he began.

Xena halted drinking from her wine glass. Suddenly she felt nervous being alone in the room with Solan. As much as it pained her, she couldn't erase her past and be a good quiet housewife like every other normal mother. No, he was stuck with her, a murderer, a destroyer of nations, she heard him call her. She hadn't been called that in a very long time.

"What sort of things?" she played coy.

Solan shrugged, "silly things. Do you really kill for sport?" he was eager to know. He saw the conqueror avert her eyes and stare into her wine filled cup.

"Some may say that," she smiled shyly. She was beginning to question her way of life at the moment the longer she stared into the burgundy liquid within her chalice.

"I'd like to learn to fight, but my aunt won't let me. She says I need to focus on my studies," he mocked his aunt's nasally voice.

Xena smiled, "you should listen to her. Brains are sometimes better than a sword."

Solan nodded, somehow hearing that come from her was much cooler than hearing it from Octavius and his professors at school.

"Where is your empire located?" he asked.

Xena was surprised that he didn't know where she even lived, but why would he? He is roman raised after all. Thank you for that, Borias. "My palace is in Athens, but I have many checkpoints spread across the Mediterranean."

He nodded and smiled, "I always wanted to go to Athens to study mathematics there, but now I know why Octavius forbade me to go there," he coyly said feeling the tension in the room rise as soon as he said this.

Xena felt hurt by this, but then realized that Octavius was only trying to protect him. The only thing that was difficult for her to swallow was that the Roman emperor was protecting her son from... _her_. She then realized that she was probably keeping her little gladiator waiting for much too long and needed to cut this discussion short. She slowly stood up and brushed out the wrinkles in her gown.

"you're leaving?" Solan seemed disappointed at this.

Xena nodded, "I'm afraid so, but I am sure we will chat again," she smiled and turned to leave, then she had an idea that surely would not disappoint him. "I'll tell you what, Solan, I'll grant you safe passage to my empire and you can go to any school you desire to in Athens."

Solan was shocked at this proposition. He wasn't expecting her to suggest such a thing and he didn't know what to say. "That's very kind of you, but why would do that...for me, I mean?"

"My offers expire quickly so I suggest you not fester on it..." Xena smiled and disappeared from the room and her gown flowed behind her as she swiftly made her way to her room upstairs.

Octavia came back into the room and found that Solan was by himself and everyone else was gone. Inwardly she was happy that the Thracian woman was gone with her slave but now Solan had a strange expression on his face. She saw his sketch book was on the chaise lounge where the conqueror was sitting as well as his golden pen.

"Where did Xena go?" she asked hesitantly.

Solan was caught in a daze, "she said I can go to Athens to study," he blurted out.

Octavia grabbed his sketch book and frowned, "what?"

"The conqueror said I can go to Athens to study at any school I want," he was starting to feel excited then saw his aunt's face and his smile disappeared.

"Why would she grant you passage into her empire?" she was feeling very skeptical of this woman.

Solan shrugged and took his sketch pad and pen from his aunt, "I don't know, maybe she likes me?" he teased and hurried to his room to write about what happened today in his journal.

Octavia couldn't help but think this was rather strange of Xena to grant Solan passage into her empire. She hardly let anyone through and it was almost impossible to get through her checkpoints with her army standing post at every border she had around Greece. Very interesting, she tapped her cheek with her index finger then grabbed her wine glass and retired to her room for the evening.

* * *

Xena entered her room and saw Gabrielle was standing in the middle of the room unclear of what to do and she looked very rigid. She smiled at the blonde girl and began untying her gauntlets from her arms.

"Don't look so scared little one, I want you to celebrate with me," she smiled.

Gabrielle said nothing and watched as the woman before began to untie her corset in front of her. She threw the corset on a nearby chair and let out a loud sigh of relief. She then began taking off her dress and Gabrielle turned around.

Xena began laughing, "are you modest, little one?"

Gabrielle didn't dare turn around, "no, mistress. I am just respecting your privacy." She concurred.

Xena nodded and appreciated the young woman's offer but she challenged her, just as she had challenged her to compete for her in the arena. "Don't shy away from me. Turn around." She commanded.

Gabrielle sighed softly and turned around slowly only to see the conqueror was still clothed in her black gown, but as soon as she was done untying the laces in the back, her dress would be no more.

The conqueror grinned at the woman's uncomfortable state, "I want to sit at that table over there."

She did as told and sat down at the table sitting straight up, not knowing what was going to happen next.

Xena's dress fell to the floor and she let her hair loose from her tight ponytail and it flowed freely down her slim back. She grabbed her robe that Racha had laid out for her on the bed and wrapped it around her body. She poured two glasses of wine for herself and her guest. Waltzing over to the table she handed Gabrielle the glass of wine which she took carefully.

"Do you fear me, little one?" Xena asked as she sat across from her.

Gabrielle nursed the cup of wine and stared directly into Xena's eyes. "No, mistress." She answered honestly.

Xena was surprised at her answer and sipped her wine, leaning back in the chair crossing one leg over the other. "Tell me about yourself," she grinned, narrowing her eyes. She was in the mood for a game.

The room stilled and Gabrielle didn't answer her, she didn't want to talk about her past, it would reveal everything and she didn't want to do that. Life would change forever if she spoke of her past. You mean that time you raped and pillaged my village, you want to hear about that, lord conqueror? Gabrielle said inwardly.

"Alright, let's play a game. I'm in a mood," she set her chalice down. "I'll tell you something about myself then you tell me something in return. Seem fair?" she winked at the blonde.

"As you wish," Gabrielle sipped the wine and it warmed her insides. The wine was very good and she was sure that Xena was taking advantage of this. She took note that she really loved wine, she'd have to remember that for the future.

Xena nodded and thought of what she could begin with. There were many things that she had to keep a secret, but there was so much about her past that she didn't want to talk about as well.

"I have a pet spider in my palace. Her name is Zoe," this seemed silly, but she had a plan.

Gabrielle smiled at this. That was a very weird thing to begin with, she thought, but she could play this game too.

"I had horse once, when I was thirteen, he didn't like me very much," she reminisced in this memory of that horse that Jalal gave her.

Xena smiled at this woman, she liked this game but she wanted to take it a step further. "Let's change the rules, just for fun," she tapped her fingernails on the table. "I'll ask you a question then you can ask me a question. We both have to answer, truthfully of course."

Gabrielle didn't like the change that she made, there were so many questions she could ask her, but she had to play this little game.

"When was your first kill?" Xena asked.

She thought long and hard and remembered the first time she killed someone, she was eighteen and it was not a pretty sight the way he died. It was rather horrific in fact. "When I was eighteen."

"How did you kill him?" Xena wanted to know more and then Gabrielle smiled at the conqueror.

"I believe it's my turn to ask, empress," Gabrielle said in a matter-of-fact tone. Xena raised her eyebrows but did not protest. "Did you ever marry someone?" she took the questioning to whole other level and saw Xena falter in her calm eerie state, good, she thought. I finally got you, conqueror.

Xena cleared her throat, "no, I do not need such distractions." She answered curtly. She leaned in closer to Gabrielle and her crimson lips appeared so enticing to the warrior. "What is your _real_ name, little one?"

Gabrielle did not let the conqueror deter her, "Zehra."

"No, no...your real name, I _know_ it is not your name. That is an eastern name and you are not from those lands. I would know, I conquered those lands long ago" she grinned sipping from her cup waiting for a response.

How long has she known this and why would she keep up the charade for so long? Or perhaps she didn't know and she was just trying to play with her head, she wasn't sure if she should answer or not.

"I said we answer truthfully, if I find that you are lying to me...well...I suppose you know what happens to those who lie to me," she was referring to Callisto back in the palace and Gabrielle didn't want to end up like that or worse. She had not disappointed her so far, but this was beginning to become a life or death question in her opinion.

"Gabrielle," this was it, this is where everything comes crashing down.

Xena remembered that name and now that she stared at the woman before her, she saw the twelve year old girl with long blonde hair, who feared for her life all those years ago. How could she had not seen it before? Oh well played, little one, well played. She began to laugh softly then erupted into a loud laughter alarming Gabrielle.

"What a _lovely_ name..." she grinned evilly, "Gabrielle..." she let the name slide off her tongue like honey. "No wonder you tried to assassinate me," she laughed. Her laugh abruptly stopped and she frowned, her face become serious as ever, "you foolish girl."

Xena threw Gabrielle's wine across the room and she stood up. Gabrielle's eyes widened as the tall figure came closer to her. She now had the conqueror's hand wrapped around her throat. She drug her across the room to the balcony and pushed her against the railing, almost falling over the balcony. Her eyes met the dark sky and Xena's grip tightened.

"You fight in my name...my honor...you try to assassinate me. Who sent you to do this? My past comes to haunt me, I should have killed you just like I did your parents, _Gabrielle_..." she hissed.

Gabrielle felt her wind pipe closing the tighter the grasp became. "No one sent me..." she choked.

Xena gritted her teeth, "lies! Do you know how many assassination attempts are made on my life every day, little one?" she smiled as her eyes became wild with rage. "Do you?!"

"N..o.." Gabrielle coughed and grabbed Xena's hand trying to loosen the grip.

She pushed her body over the edge a little more and smiled as she saw that the girl was struggling to get free from her grip.

"And I was just beginning to like you," she pouted, "pity."

Gabrielle coughed some more then stared into the icy blue eyes that looked so filled with hate. "Wh..y?"

Xena frowned, "why what?"

"Why...did you kill my family?" she managed to say as she felt Xena loosen her grip so she could talk.

The conqueror smiled, "I was conquering land, your village was no different. You are not special, Gabrielle!"

Gabrielle smiled, "you enjoy killing children?"

"I never killed children," Xena exclaimed becoming angrier as the blonde spoke back to her.

"is that so?" Gabrielle eyed the dirt ground at least thirty feet below her. She really didn't want to die like this. "you may not kill them with your blade, but you rip their families away from the children so essentially...you do kill children. They die of starvation...of _hopelessness_ " she coughed again.

Xena let go of Gabrielle and took a step backward staring at the small woman was now on the ground coughing and rubbing her throat. She didn't want to hear these words, it was making her emotions overwhelm her again. She couldn't sleep at night as it is and she didn't need this slave to talk back to her about killing of children. She never killed children or women, she made sure of that. Her words of killing children began to wrack her brain and she grabbed her sword that was at the end of her bed and pointed it at Gabrielle, who was still on the floor trying to compose herself.

"Get up, I dare you," Xena pointed the sword closer to Gabrielle's neck and the blonde didn't move a muscle.

Gabrielle smiled at the woman. She was so filled with hate that she didn't even know how to control real, true emotions that came her way. "you're going to kill me...for answering truthfully? How lawful of you," she mocked. "I don't expect you to understand. You don't have any children, you wouldn't know their suffering that you put them through," she scoffed.

Xena growled and kicked Gabrielle against the wall and the point of the blade was now touching Gabrielle's neck. The blonde stared up into her eyes, somehow not afraid if she was going to die or not.

I do understand, Xena said to herself. "you know nothing about me, little one."

"I know enough. You're a murderer, but I think you already know that, so why haven't you killed me yet?" Gabrielle hoped she would call this woman's bluff, if she didn't then she'd die a slow painful death.

Xena wanted to kill this girl, but if she did, she would just prove her right about killing children, as this woman was technically an orphan of war and it was her fault. But, she was no child anymore, then Solan came to her mind and she couldn't bring herself to commit the act. She stared at Gabrielle for a long while, both eyes staring at each other intensely.

She slowly lowered the sword and then stabbed it into the flooring as hard as she could. Gabrielle flinched at this and Xena exhaled deeply then stared at the wall focusing all her emotions and putting them into a mental box.

"Get out," Xena said quietly. "Get out!" she yelled and Gabrielle stood up and walked slowly to the door.

She looked back and saw the conqueror was still staring at the wall intently and then she exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Xena's eyes filled with tears yet again, this had been the third time since she got to Rome that this happened. She counted. Suddenly in a fit of fury she picked up her sword and sliced the wooden table in half letting out a loud war cry.

Gabrielle was just walking down the hall and stopped when she heard Xena's loud cry from her room and a loud crash. She continued walking on, her life had been spared yet again.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 8_

Xena couldn't sleep and decided to travel elsewhere in the villa. She took to the outside in the gardens outside of the villa as everyone was sleeping she didn't have anyone to bother, she supposed. She took her whip with her, still in her robe and barefooted. It was nearing dawn now, she had been outside for hours now. She cracked her whip against a marble column, letting out her frustration. She'd much rather let out her frustration on a certain slave of hers, but knew that she wouldn't bring herself to do that. She needed to use that little blonde to her advantage.

She was sweating profusely the stronger she cracked her whip against the column, wrapping the end of it around the pole and retracting it slowly only to repeat it.

Solan woke up and heard a loud cracking sound from his room that was close to the gardens. He looked out his window rubbing his eyes and saw the conqueror woman by herself cracking her whip against the marble columns. He was confused by this yet intrigued. He wrapped a white cloth around his lower half and slipped on his sandals making his way down to the gardens. As soon as he arrived he saw that she was very focused and wondered why she was out here so early and especially by herself.

Her hair was down to her hips and slightly frizzy from the humidity in the warm air. She wore a burgundy velvet robe and she was barefoot he noticed. She continued to crack the whip and as soon as she retracted it he thought he'd make his presence known to her.

"Getting some early exercise?" he inquired.

Xena was caught off guard by a certain voice, the voice of her son. She halted and wrapped the whip around her arm turning slowly to face him. She was ashamed of her appearance as she was sure she looked like a maniac right about now. Her hair wild and eyes tired from the impending guilt racing through her mind. She didn't like these new found feelings that were overcoming her.

"Did I wake you?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Solan shrugged his bare shoulders and folded his arms, "I would have gotten up within an hour or so anyway. My aunt insists I stay on top of my studies."

She nodded and sat down on a nearby bench and set her whip in her lap. She wiped the sweat off her brow and then she saw Solan was coming closer to her. Please, don't, she thought.

"So," he went to some plants and started watering them, "did you really mean what you said?"

She was confused now, "what did I say?" hopeful she didn't say anything horrid to him, so far she hadn't she told herself. She couldn't quite remember what happened before the games or even after she met with Borias. Too much wine, she cursed herself. She should really stop drinking so much.

He laughed a bit, "you said I could come to Athens to study. Were you being true to your word?"

His words were very straight forward and she admired him for this, but if he were anybody else she'd probably rip him a new one, perhaps whip him a few times if she was talked to like that.

"You have made up your mind to come to Athens then?" Xena looking up at him hoping that he would say yes.

Solan tilted his head to the side and smiled crookedly. "I would love to go...but, my uncle would probably forbid it..." he looked at her and then nervously laughed, "no offense."

Xena shouldn't be offended by this but inwardly she felt hurt. These feelings were going to kill her for sure, she thought. She had been with Solan for two days now, now going on three and their conversations had been very short but she cherished every minute of them. For so long she had wanted to know where he was and now that she did she could only curse Borias for giving their son to the Romans. What on earth was he thinking at the time? Oh that's right, he wasn't. Now that she saw him, she couldn't help but think that his life would have been horrible if he stayed with her, he'd grow up to be just like her and she didn't want that for him. She wanted him to have a good education and he had some of the best teachers in Italia. He also had a safe and secure home where he would not be harmed, which is the most important thing.

"I know your uncle does not like me very much and he has every reason not to. I am not a likeable person," Xena admitted. This was a fact, she knew this.

Solan cocked his head to the side, "to be fair, he doesn't like a lot of people. I'd say you're likeable, you haven't killed me or anything," he joked.

Xena smiled and crossed a leg over the other. An awkward silence passed between them and she began twirling the whip within her fingers.

Solan eyed her whip and spoke up, "do you use that a lot?"

Her eyes traveled up to his and his face oozed curiosity. She held her whip up and pointed at it, "this?"

He nodded.

Xena shrugged, "I use it for many reasons," reasons of which she wasn't going to discuss with him.

"Could you teach me how to use it?" he smiled hopeful that she would comply with his wish.

She looked at him and then became rather shy and stood up to face him. He was the same height as her and she gazed into his eyes. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Solan."

He shrugged and saw that she wasn't going to budge on her decision. "How 'bout a sword then?"

Xena immediately became angry and unraveled her whip unconsciously. She saw that he took notice of this. Her knuckles turning white as she held the handle in her palm. Solan eyed her whip then stared into her eyes with his brown marbles, not fearing her whatsoever.

"You should listen to your aunt and focus on your studies not on weapons," she managed to say calmly. She started to leave the gardens and was stopped by Solan blocking the exit. She halted and her eyes widened at his behavior.

He saw her face change from calm to somewhat annoyed in a split second. Her eyes shifted from a calm blue to icy blue immediately. He wasn't sure what was going through her mind but now he seemed a bit fearful of the conqueror, the stories he had heard had some truth to them, he supposed. She seemed calm earlier but now...he wasn't so sure. He stepped to the side allowing her to pass but she didn't move and kept staring at him.

"I want to learn martial arts...and how to use a weapon, any weapon," Solan said in a small voice.

Xena relaxed a blinked as she came out of her sudden irritation at her son. "That is not my job to teach you such things, focus on school, not many are given the opportunity to go to school." She then left the gardens and walked down the halls retreating back to her bedroom.

Solan followed her and she felt his presence. He wasn't going to leave her alone, she sighed and stopped. He nearly ran into her and she turned around.

"What if I pay you to teach me?" he blurted out.

She was taken aback by this proposal. She was not for hire, this boy has much to learn. She almost wanted to laugh at him, but she didn't.

"This is not negotiable, Solan. I must go to my room now. Tomorrow I am leaving for Athens," she didn't wait for a response and walked up the marble stairs.

Solan watched her leave and he didn't know what to think about the woman. She was so mysterious to him. He sighed and he walked onward back to his room to retrieve some towels to go bathe soon before anyone else woke up.

Xena was at the top of the stairs and watched Solan go back to his room. She then she saw that he wasn't going to follow her anymore and then opened her door to her room and stripped herself of the robe and went to go wash her hair.

* * *

She had been sitting in the large bath tub for quite some time now that the water was no longer hot or even lukewarm. It was cold and her fingers had become wrinkled. She stared at the wall with her knees close to her body and hair still wet, floating in the water. She needed to somehow punish that Gabrielle woman. She didn't know how to punish her though, perhaps she should whip her, no, that's too conventional. Or maybe she should cut her like she did Borias, no that wouldn't work. Xena was beginning to wonder what had become of her. Was she becoming weak? Was it Solan, was it Gabrielle or Borias or perhaps a combination of all three of them? Her past had become her reality nightmare and it was all too personal for her to handle. Gabrielle was just a regular farm girl turned to Roman slave and now her gladiator, why did she matter to her? She was just a regular civilian. She had the power to kill anyone she pleased, yet she didn't want to kill Gabrielle, no she wanted to make her suffer. But how could she make her suffer anymore than she already did all those years ago when she killed her family, although...there was one girl she remembered. A sister, the blonde had a sister and she got away. Xena thought Gabrielle's sister very lucky or perhaps she were dead, she didn't know and didn't care frankly.

Xena's thoughts were beginning to become torturous the longer she sat in the tub thinking silently to herself. Racha had not come in to help her, she wondered why. Maybe she was still asleep...probably not. She didn't care right now, somehow she liked the idea of being alone for once in her life. Although she was always alone. She had seen her son for the first time and Borias as well in fifteen years and yet she still felt alone. Deep down she knew that she was forever going to be alone. Conquerors and emperors often had spouses or many suitors, which she enjoyed Marcus from time to time, but he was just a toy to her. He knew this as well and didn't seem to mind as he came back to see her frequently. She was missing something in her life. She had no friends but had countless enemies. Xena was beginning to realize there was something wrong with this.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw a reflection in the bath water and she turned around and saw Ares, God of War, standing behind her with a smug smile. She growled and turned around pretending not to care that he was there.

"by Zeus and Hera, what are you doing here?" she furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance.

Ares sighed, "come on Xena, don't use my parents' names in this. That's just gross, it makes me feel like they're watching." He smiled and sat on the ledge of the tub.

Xena smiled mockingly, "afraid they'll see something they wouldn't approve of?"

Ares rolled his eyes, "ha-ha, you think you're so funny, Xena." He waded his hand in the water and saw Xena was just sitting there in the cold water. "Trouble in paradise, empress?"

She shot him a glare, "get out of here Ares. I do not wish to see you gloat." She stood up and stepped out of the tub wrapping a black robe around her body and wrung out her wet hair over the tub.

He came around behind her and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. "who says I was gloating?" his breath close to her ear. She shrugged him off and walked out of her bedroom and saw Racha waiting for her next to the bed. Ares followed her casually. He was unseen to mortal eyes so he sat on her bed and Xena rolled her eyes in his direction.

Racha looked to the bed then back at her mistress. Strange behavior, she noted. "Would you like me to set out new clothes for you, mistress?"

Ares grinned at this and laid down on the bed making himself very comfortable. "Yes please do," he marveled at this. Xena ignored him and shook her head at her maid.

"no I will pick out my clothes, I will see you downstairs, Racha."

The girl nodded and left the room.

She looked to the War God and smiled smugly, "you thought I was going to give you a show. Nice try Ares." She went to her chest of clothes and pulled out some gowns that she was going to wear underneath her golden corset she picked out for today.

"No matter, I already know what your body looks like," he laughed. "Anyway," he stood up and watched her as she held up two gowns to her body in the mirror. "That Gabrielle of yours...she is fascinating isn't she?"

Xena didn't respond as he wasn't going to give into his little games.

He folded his arms, "ever wonder how she came to you?"

This caught her attention now, "what are you getting at?" she lowered the gowns and stared into his brown eyes.

Ares shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Oh I donno...perhaps _I_ sent her to you. I _like_ to see you suffer." He saw her nostrils flare and her eyebrows furrow. Her eyes were filled with fury and he liked that.

"Look at your reaction! That's the Xena I know and love," he smiled at her anger.

Xena grabbed her sword and lunged into his torso and he frowned. "I long to see your innards upon my blade...perhaps I shall gain a sword made by Hephaestus himself to kill you one day, you bastard!"

He stepped backward and the sword slid out of his torso completely unharmed of course. He tipped her sword down the floor and brought her closer to his body.

"Is that any way to treat a friend, Xena?" he was very close to her lips now.

Xena gritted her teeth then head butted him and he was sent staggering backwards holding his head in his hands. "You are not my friend Ares! Be gone with you!" she waved her hand for his dismissal.

Ares frowned, "Xena! You can be a real bitch sometimes, you know that?" he shook his head trying to compose himself again. "I made you and I can undo you in an instant!"

Xena smiled and grabbed her sword again and thrust it into his body and rammed him through the wall about ten feet away from where they were standing. The sword was now firmly planted into the wall, still inside of his body.

"I have a growing empire that I created by myself Ares, without you! I don't need you so why do you keep coming back to me? You want me to be your warrior queen bride, is that it? Well, _forget_ it!" she spat in his face.

"You're really hard to talk to, no wonder you don't have friends," he smiled.

Xena spat in his face and removed her sword from his unharmed body once more and threw it on her bed, going back to the mirror trying to figure out what dress to wear.

Ares wiped the spit off his face and rubbed his hands on his pants and frowned at her. You are disgusting, Xena, he thought. All the things I have done for you and this is how I am repaid? Well not today, not ever.

"you will return to me one day, Xena. I have a proposition for you when I return I expect that you accept it," and within an instant he was gone in a flash and Xena let out a sigh of relief. That bastard.

* * *

A couple of hours later Xena decided to make a trip to the servant quarters, which in her palace she would never do and actually she technically was not allowed to do so here, but she frankly did not care. She stepped inside the entrance wearing a red gown with her golden corset that had a black cape attacked to the shoulders. The servants all stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads to her. They never see anyone above their status in their quarters and didn't know how to respond.

"My gladiator, where is she?" Xena asked openly.

One of the slave boys pointed down the hall, "she's in there, ma'am."

"Thank you," Xena went down the hall and all the rooms' entrances shielded by sheer curtains. She opened each one to find them all empty except the last room, and she saw Gabrielle writing on parchment paper. She entered the room and saw the woman did not move or even flinch. She did not bow her head either, which irritated her.

"I would like words with you," Xena demanded.

Gabrielle smirked and set her parchment aside. After what happened last night she thought she was going to die and here the woman was, wanting to chat with her? Strange woman she is.

"Would you like to move to a more suitable area?" Gabrielle suggested no longer fearing for her life as she spoke freely. This woman wasn't going to kill her, she was sure of that, after all, she survived last night. Xena was known for killing many people in her path yet she spared her life, she still didn't know why? Perhaps the woman had a conscious after all.

Xena looked around the small decorated room and shook her head, "this is fine." She pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down crossing one leg over the other.

"I should kill you for what you said to me last night," Xena began.

Gabrielle said nothing and continued to stare into the conqueror's eyes, not letting her intimidate her anymore.

Xena sighed, "your victory in the arena surprised me. I surely thought you would perish, but you gave my name a new meaning in Rome, for that...I thank you," she never she'd say those words to a slave that opposed her so greatly and even tried to assassinate her.

"Is that all?" Gabrielle asked as a patch of silence passed.

Xena was becoming irate with the blonde already and then composed herself. No, not today, today you will remain poise, something that she never really learned how to do.

"You defied me. You are a slave, in which you have no position to speak to me the way you did...but," she paused for quite some time and saw the blonde was waiting for a response. "I have thought a lot of about what you said."

"Which part?" she speaks, Xena was happy Gabrielle finally spoke back to her for once.

Xena didn't want to talk about her past at the moment, but she had to, she never really talked about her past because there were so many things that she would have liked to do differently, one of them being Solan, but that was such a lost cause.

"I never killed children by force," Xena admitted.

Gabrielle smiled at this. That seemed to really bother the empress that she called her a murderer of children. She liked this, she wasn't on the other end of the stick this time. Why did this bother her so?

"you may not kill them by your hand, but you kill their families, their spirit, their will to live."

Those words cut Xena and she didn't want to hear it anymore, but she was the one who came in here so she'd just have to tough it out.

"How do you expect children to live on their own if you destroy their homes, their villages? When you burned my village, I hated you for it, as you might know, you are hated by many. I feared you, but as I grew older my hate for you began to die and wither away until I was brought to your palace. I hated that you lived in luxury while others starve and die." Gabrielle spoke freely and watched Xena's nostrils flare the more she spoke and saw her lips twitch in between the words 'die' and 'starve'.

Xena wasn't expecting Gabrielle to speak so freely and she didn't want to stop her. Somehow she knew it was good for her to hear this. She cleared her throat, "what areas in my empire have you been in?"

That was a rather random question Gabrielle thought, "Athens, Bologna, Thrace, and Troy."

She readied herself for this question, the question she didn't want to ask. "the children in those areas...do they starve? I mean...do live decently?"

Gabrielle was shocked at this. Why would she care about this? She cocked her head to side thinking of all the children she saw, most were poor and without families because of this woman. Was it wise to tell the conqueror these things?

"The children live in poverty, without mothers, without fathers. Most are lucky if they have older siblings to help them or uncles to watch over them." Gabrielle spoke the truth.

Xena didn't wish to hear anymore and now she knew what needed to do. She stood up and Gabrielle sat up straighter on the bed as she saw the tall woman staring at her intently.

"Thank you for this...impromptu meeting." Xena left the servant quarters quickly passing the servants who were still in awe that she even came into their living area in the first place.

Xena went outside to her horse and met with one of her guards. He solute her and she brushed her horse's mane with her hand.

"My gladiator, make sure she is tied down and walks the entire way back to Athens tomorrow."

The guard nodded and then disappeared into the villa to alert the other guards.

* * *

Later in the evening Racha had packed all of Xena's belongings and gave them to the guards to put in their wagons. Xena was in the sitting area by herself and saw Octavia approaching her and she smiled setting her glass of wine down. She only had half a glass of wine tonight, she would not repeat what happened last night, not again.

Octavia sat opposite of Xena and tried to smile graciously at her. "It was a pleasure having you here, Xena and your gladiator was well received in the arena. Rome hopes you return to the games soon."

Xena swallowed a grape and smiled, "I don't think she will be competing any longer. Sorry to disappoint," she drank from her glass once more staring at the Roman woman.

"Oh, well, such a pity." There was a long pause and she really wanted to discuss Solan. He spoke to this woman earlier he had told her. "you mentioned to Solan that he was allowed to come to Athens to study, is that true?"

Xena didn't really feel like discussing her son with this woman. He was like an adoptive mother to her and for this, she felt envious. "Yes, I give him my permission to pass my border into Athens."

Octavia knew that she had to play the noble woman and remain politically correct with this woman. "That is very kind of you, Xena."

She shrugged, "he deserves the best education and I can provide it," she smiled.

She knew she had to bring this up and she didn't want to. "I doubt my brother will allow Solan's passage until you release territories in Egypt and in Carthage, though."

"Perhaps...your brother should come to speak to me like a true man and we shall go from there," she said calmly.

"Right...of course," Octavia stood and slightly bowed her head, "I shall be going. I have some business to attend to. I hope your travels are safe back to Athens."

Xena sat up and smiled at the Roman woman, "should be, they are _my_ territories after all." She grinned.

* * *

The following day Xena had said goodbye to Octavius and his family. She said goodbye to Solan as well and hoped that he was able to come Athens, but that might not happen as she wasn't going to give up her territories in Egypt and Carthage for the sake of Rome. Were her conquered lands more valuable to her than her own son? She was beginning to question all her decisions in her life now.

Throughout her travels she rode her horse the entire way back and she looked behind her to see a very tired Gabrielle walking slowly at the hands of one of her men on horseback. She grinned, "how are you doing, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle did not respond but sent a glare to Xena. She was doing this on purpose. They had been on the road for a half a day now and they had quite a ways to go until they reached Athens. She knew that Xena was enjoying every bit of this and here she thought that she had gotten something through to the woman. Well, she was wrong.

They had stopped and made camp for the evening and would continue their long journey tomorrow morning. It would take them about another two days to get back to Athens. Xena sat down next to the fire poking the embers with a long stick. She eyed Gabrielle and the blonde sat down on the cold dirt and she blew embers in her direction causing Gabrielle to cough.

"I didn't say you could sit!" Xena yelled.

Gabrielle sighed and slowly stood up, she had been walking all day and all she wanted to do was sit down and relax but it seemed that was not going to happen.

"You sit when I tell you to. I will be sleeping here and I want you close to me, to keep an eye on you, understand?"

Gabrielle nodded glaring at the woman. She knew Xena was thriving in this, but no matter, she will survive this. She cheated death after all.

An hour or so later Xena had fallen asleep close to the fire and Gabrielle's head hung low as she felt sleep overcoming her but it wasn't really possible for her to sleep standing up. At least she was fed and given water. There was hope for the conqueror, Gabrielle thought. She wasn't so cruel to leave her hungry and thirsty. She obviously wanted her alive, for something...

* * *

The next light Gabrielle felt water splashed on her face and saw Xena was very close to her face and had a grin upon her face. She was fully dressed in her battle gear and her hair was wet, which meant she probably bathed shortly before.

"Wake up, we're leaving soon," she gathered her animal skins and piled them atop her horse. "I trust you slept well?" she smiled.

Gabrielle was tempted to roll her eyes but she didn't. "I slept enough."

"She speaks."

One of Xena's men came up to her with a message in hand. She grabbed the scroll and ripped off the ribbon and opened it. immediately she growled in fury and then mounted her horse.

"We are not stopping for camp when dusk hits. We will ride onto Athens."

Gabrielle wondered what was in that scroll but it was too late, Xena had thrown it into the fire and it was burning slowly as the embers from the fire were dying. Xena began riding and her men followed shortly after. Gabrielle went over to the fire and was able to read some of what the scroll had said.

She was only able to make out a few words.

_Marc Antony. Persia. Phraates. War._


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: just a warning this is intense towards the end. A lot of Gabrielle and Xena interaction in this one, at last. Enjoy and good luck ;)  
Also, sorry for any grammar mistakes, I try my best to catch them when I reread the chapters. **

_Chapter 9_

Xena and her royal guards set sail for Athens shortly after reaching the shore of Italia. She had stood on the deck overlooking the white Mediterranean Sea and the clear skies ahead of them. By the smell of the air she sensed that it would rain by nightfall. By mid-afternoon tomorrow they would arrive in Athens and from there she would make arrangements with her men for her next expedition to the Eastern lands to solve a small problem. She had put Gabrielle in the belly of the ship, unchained and somewhat comfortable. Although the room she was in was rather hot and muggy because of the warm Mediterranean Sea and humidity of the ocean.

Gabrielle had no idea how long they had been at sea but it had to have been more than ten hours and she couldn't shake the sea sickness ever since she boarded the ship. She figured that Xena had something special planned for her, but whatever it was she hoped it wouldn't involve any whipping. After standing and walking for miles on end she was glad to finally sit down on the hard wood floor. She had never been so happy to see wood in her life. Gabrielle thought herself weak, that she couldn't even handle walking for miles while the conqueror rode her horse the entire way and now she was probably enjoying sleeping in her private cabin, she wished she was able to sleep, but she couldn't.

Suddenly she heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs and it was one of Xena's guards. He looked stoic as ever and wanted no lollygagging involved so he simply addressed her accordingly, "the conqueror wishes me to bring you to her quarters."

Oh great, what does she want now? Gabrielle was taken by the arm and led up the stairs into the bright light. She shielded her eyes from the blinding hot sun and looked around to see that the deck was filled with her guards walking about. She hadn't seen Xena since they got the on the ship and wondered where her room was anyway. The guard pushed her forward and there was another staircase on the other end of the ship. She carefully tread down the stairs and the door was wide open. There was a light flickering on the floorboards in Xena's room, indicating that it was rather dark in the room.

Gabrielle stepped inside and the guard stood behind her. She saw Xena sitting at a small desk lined with several rolled-up maps and scrolls piled on top. She had a feather pen in her mouth and she smiled as she saw Gabrielle enter her room.

"Welcome, Gabrielle," Xena said setting the ink quill in its base and laced her fingers together. "you may leave us now," she addressed her guard. The man salutes his master and then left the room closing the door behind him.

Gabrielle's eyes roamed around the room looking at the intricate designs painted on the walls and weapons stacked up in a corner on a rack. She couldn't help but look at those. There were so many different weapons, scimitars, broad swords, a shield, an Egyptian scythe and those Sais that she fought with in the arena. Strange weapons for a Thracian empress to keep in her room, she took note.

"Sit down, would you? You look like a curious child," Xena waved her hand and then set her boots on the desk, leaning back in her chair comfortably. "I'd like to keep an eye on you for the remainder of our journey, do you mind?" she challenged the blonde woman, dying for her to talk back to her.

Gabrielle sat down as instructed and nodded, "whatever you wish, empress," she continued to look around the room. There was always something new to look at in here.

Playing coy are we? Xena hoped for more of a sassy response from Gabrielle, but she figured that'd come soon enough. The girl really liked to talk and Xena didn't like to listen. Sure she'd like to talk, but this girl...this girl was something else. She picked up one of the scrolls that was given to her before they boarded the ship and she narrowed her eyes trying to decipher the text. It was in Persian and she hadn't really studied too much of that language. She knew Greek and many variants of the language as well as two thirds of Latin, just because Rome conquered so many areas. She even managed to learn some Egyptian as well, but not as well as Borias did.

Gabrielle noticed that Xena was having trouble reading and a smile came to her lips as she watched the conqueror woman suffer in silence. She had too much pride to ask for help, she knew this to be true. About ten minutes passed by and Xena threw the scroll aside in frustration as she wasn't able to figure out what the scroll had said.

"Could I take a look at it?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena's eyes trailed up to look at the blonde's green eyes staring back at her. She then eyed the scroll and frowned, "a slave that knows how to read...interesting."

Gabrielle smiled, "my mother taught me how to read. I know how to read many languages, even languages that I do not know the meaning of the words, I can read it," she was rather proud of herself to admit this to the conqueror woman. Perhaps she would prove herself worthy to the woman again.

Xena gestured for Gabrielle to come to her desk and the young woman followed the command and stood at the foot of the desk, looking quite disarray. Her hair was a mess, her face, hands, arms and legs dirty from walking all day today and yesterday. The conqueror handed her the scroll, a bit skeptical of the girl.

Gabrielle took the scroll and began reading over it and could see why Xena was having trouble reading this. It's in Persian and nobody really spoke Persian except in the Persian territories. Everyone spoke Greek these days or Latin, so unless if you're from or lived in that area, you wouldn't have the need to know the language. She studied the text and could make out about seventy percent of it and it wasn't really that pretty, the message that is. It was rather defiant.

"Well?" Xena finally said after a few minutes of silence. "Can you decipher it or not?" she was growing a bit impatient with all the waiting.

She set the scroll down the desk and stared at Xena with a blank face. She didn't really want to tell her what the letter said, but if she didn't, bad things might happen to her. She saw Xena was tapping her fingernails on the desk rather rapidly and she sighed.

"Phraates, the Persian emperor says that he wants to ally with Marc Antony and invade Rome in the coming year. He also says that he doesn't want to pay taxes to you anymore because he believes you..."

Xena was growing furious now the more Gabrielle spoke but she needed to know what it says. "Believes me what? Out with it, girl!" she threw her hand in the air as a sign of aggravation.

She exhaled slowly, "he believes you to be an unfit ruler and thinks that Marc Antony is a better ruler for all of Greece and Rome."

The raven haired empress's nostrils flared and she breathed heavily and rapidly as her fingers tapped on the desk then she suddenly slammed her fist on the wooden table causing some of the scrolls to tumble down onto the floor.

"Those bastards. That Marc Antony thinks he's so slick. Trying to convince my allies to turn against me. Fools!" she yelled and then she composed herself. "Is that all it said?" she addressed Gabrielle who was standing there with wide eyes, blinking at her sudden outburst.

She nodded, "yes..yes that's all it said, empress." She turned around to sit back down on the chair until Xena stopped her.

"I didn't say you could sit down, get over here," she tapped the ink quill in the base and began writing a reply back to Phraates, but in Greek this time.

Gabrielle made her way back to the desk and watched over Xena as she was writing quickly on the parchment. She didn't think that Xena was a woman of words and it showed in her writing. Didn't she have someone to write for her? Apparently not, she probably killed all of her scribes, a bit paranoid perhaps, she supposed.

"You spelled detach wrong," Gabrielle blurted out and she received a horrid glare from the empress and she cleared her throat and smiled nervously. "Just trying to help..." she added.

Xena couldn't believe the nerve of this woman. "It's supposed to say dispatch," she was starting to feel slightly embarrassed as a slave was correcting her spelling. She crumbled the parchment up and threw it on the floor twirling the pen in her hand and grabbing a fresh parchment to write on.

Gabrielle spoke up before Xena started writing again, "maybe I could write the letter for you?" she smiled timidly, "empress."

Xena and Gabrielle stared at each other intently for a few moments and then Xena stood up and handed the quill to Gabrielle offering her the chair. "By all means," her crimson lips expressing a wistful smile.

The short blonde sat down in Xena's large chair and looked at the blank parchment. She was feeling a bit uneasy as Xena was pacing back and forth in front of the desk. "So...how do you want me to start it?" she asked Xena.

She rubbed her chin then placed her hands behind her back, "start by addressing him as a selfish bastard and how I will crush his people into the ground!" she saw Gabrielle's expression and pursed her lips, "Phraates V is fine." She concluded.

Gabrielle smiled and nodded and wrote down everything Xena was saying for the last half hour and when she was finally finished she handed the pen to Xena. "You need to sign the bottom."

Xena took the pen and signed her name accordingly at the bottom of the parchment and looked over the marvelous piece of text. She was impressed yet again by this woman. She could fight, read foreign languages and write exquisitely. She waved her hand dismissing Gabrielle from the chair and she sat down again, propping her boots on the messy desk.

"You can go sit down now Gabrielle." She rolled the scroll up and melted hot wax on it and used her initial that were carved into a stamp and pressed it on the hot wax sealing it. She walked to the other side of the room opening the door where her guard was always on post. She handed him the scroll, "make sure this gets sent out once we reach Athens." She closed the door behind her and smiled at the blonde and went to sit down in her chair once more.

Xena sat and looked over the map of Persia and started marking all of the areas that Phraates occupied and all of the areas she occupied as well. She eyed Gabrielle who was twirling her thumbs in her lap, perhaps because she was restless.

"Gabrielle I have a proposition for you," she never took her eyes off the map and continued to map out the occupied areas.

Gabrielle looked to the conqueror and could only imagine what she had in store for her. Perhaps she was going to whip her for her talkativeness today.

"How would you like to become my scribe?"

She wasn't expecting Xena to suggest something like this. It was better than fighting she supposed but it had been quite some time that she had picked up a quill and wrote anything down. Today was the first day she had written something down of importance in many years. Perhaps decades. Maybe when she was still with her family back in Potidaea.

"If that is what you want," Gabrielle stated. What more could she say? She had to contain her excitement.

"It _is_ what I want. Don't question what I want and what I don't want, girl. Do you understand me?"

She nodded understanding completely.

"Good, finally you do not speak back to me. We are making progress," Xena eyed Gabrielle and a smile came to her face.

Gabrielle noticed her smile did not appear wicked like usual but maybe curious was the word? Definitely not genuine. She wasn't sure if Xena was capable of being genuinely kind.

Xena was feeling a bit embarrassed at her lack of spelling skills and she tapped the quill on the desk and looked to Gabrielle, "whatever you write down does not leave the room, do you comprehend? I am trusting you with this task. Although I should not as you did try to kill me...and you lied to me, but alas you still..intrigue me," she said smiling as she brushed the feather long her cheek. "It is you that has many skills, Gabrielle."

"Yes, mistress."

The conqueror scoffed and waved her hand at the young blonde. She pointed the feather quill at Gabrielle she smiled generously, "do not call me mistress any longer, call me Xena. We shall be rid of the formalities unless you cross me. Do I need to remind you what happens to those that cross me?"

"No mis –Xena..." it was going to be strange calling the conqueror by her actual name, but if that's what she wanted then so shall it be. Gabrielle smiled back at Xena.

"Right, now here are the rules Gabrielle. I want you to listen carefully, but maybe that is not one of your skills as you like to chat," she laughed a little amused at herself as she made a joke. Gabrielle stayed silent awaiting for the regulations on her new job. "You will follow me where ever I go and write down everything when I tell you to."

Gabrielle nodded listening intently. I won't disappoint you this time, Xena.

"Oh and one more thing. If I find you writing something down that is not to my liking... _I'll_ ," she now picked up her dagger that was casually laying on her desk and she brought it up to her face. Her eyes were in awe of the weapon before her. "I'll behead you." She smiled widely as her eyebrows disappeared into her thick bangs. "Got that?"

The blonde now-to-be scribe understood that quite clearly. "Yes of course, I understand."

A few silent moments passed and Xena was marveling her dagger in hand and staring at her reflection in the shiny piece of metal.

"When do I begin?" Gabrielle spoke up figuring that she had the right to at least ask that.

"Tomorrow," Xena said not taking her eyes off the dagger.

* * *

Arriving in Athens Xena went to her room immediately to take a much needed long bath as it had been three days since she had properly washed herself. Sure there had been streams they stopped by, but she needed to relax before she made her trek to the Persian territories within the next few days. She'd be at sea again and would take a slew of her army with her along with Gabrielle, her new scribe.

Gabrielle was instructed to be bathed immediately and she no longer had her room beneath the ludus but now had a room in the palace close to the servants' quarters. She technically still was Xena's slave, but at least she had her life, she was thankful for this. In the bathing area a few servants followed Gabrielle and she turned to see that she was being followed.

"You don't have to follow me. I can bathe myself," she smiled hoping that the girls would go away but they didn't. they had their heads hung and waited in the entrance of the room.

"The conqueror wishes us to bathe you," one of the girls spoke and Gabrielle sighed.

Is she serious? Well...this ought to be interesting. She slipped off the towel and walked into the warm scented bath. It was rare that she was treated like this. One of the girls poured water over her hair and shoulders. She stayed calm and was apparently very shy. She wasn't used to having others bathe her, but it was proving to be quite nice so far. She sunk further into the water allowing her body to completely be relaxed.

She stayed in the water allowing the servants to attend to her fingernails and wash her hair until they abruptly stopped. She opened her eyes wondering why they stopped. Her eyes went to the entrance and saw Xena standing there in a black robe and her slightly damp hair hung on her body loosely.

Gabrielle blushed and covered her bare breasts with her hands and sunk deeper into the water.

"Enjoying your bath, Gabrielle?"

She looked around and then back at Xena who seemed to keep staring at her and her mouth was beneath the water not allowing her to speak back.

Xena smiled and waved her hand, dispersing the slaves in the room. Now it was just Gabrielle and her alone in the room. She circled the bath and smiled at the shyness of the blonde scribe warrior woman.

"Do not be shy, Gabrielle. After all I know what you look like without clothing. There is no shame here," she hissed like the snake she was.

Gabrielle lifted her lower half of her face out of the water but still covered herself feeling very modest right about now. Does getting naked around Xena come with the job as well? She hoped not. It was embarrassing enough that she had disrobe in front of her and that Roman boy and his aunt.

"I'm going to retire soon but I wanted to tell you about our next journey." She sat down on one of the sides of the bath and watched Gabrielle avert her gaze. She was amused by this. "We will be leaving for the Persian territories in the next two days as I'm sure my message will arrive in Phraates's hands by then. It will take us about three days to reach our destination."

Gabrielle nodded, "is that all?" three days by the gods and by boat? She hoped she wouldn't have to walk the entire way again.

Xena smiled and dipped her fingers in the warm water, "oh yes, one more thing, I'll have Racha fetch some appropriate dresses for you before we leave. You represent me now, but in a new way," she took her hands out of the water and licked her fingers as her eyelids lowered in a seductive trance. Gabrielle watched Xena as she licked her fingers and didn't know how to respond to that. Was she trying to show who was boss here? It obvious that she was her superior or perhaps she was playing a weird sexual game with her she had no idea what was going through this woman's mind. Xena then stood up grinning and sauntered out of the room gracefully as her robe drug the marble flooring.

Gabrielle stayed in the bath water a little longer after Xena left. She felt shivers run up her spine as Xena had left. What was that woman's game?

* * *

After the long travels by boat they arrived in the Eastern lands and traveled by wagon and horse the rest of the way to the inland of Persia to meet with Marc Antony and Phraates. Xena and Gabrielle traveled in the same caravan carried by a few of Xena's strongest men. The air was getting colder as they were nearing the mountains of the territories. Gabrielle was thankful that she didn't have to walk but it was a bit intimidating being within inches of Xena. She sat across from her in a criss-cross position and Xena had her legs laid out in front of her. She was dressed in a black and red Persian robe that had animal fur on the collar and ends of the sleeves. Gabrielle wore a green and dark blue shiny robe with a fur hat, covering her short blonde locks.

"Not much longer," Xena pulled back the curtain and saw that they were very close to their destination. Perhaps a few more hours. She saw the snow on the mountain tops and figured that when they arrived it would be very cold since it would be close to nightfall.

She eyed Gabrielle who seemed a bit distracted or perhaps distressed. She folded her hands inside of her long big sleeves for warmth. "Remember to write everything down like I told you."

Gabrielle nodded, "right...of course, I did not forget ...Xena," she smiled at the conqueror woman. She still wasn't used to calling her by her actual name yet but she supposed to would come easier to her the longer she said it.

Xena liked being called by her name for once. She wasn't addressed by her name in a long time unless it was someone personal that she knew.

* * *

Hours later Gabrielle felt the caravan be set on the ground and it jolted her awake. She saw Xena was staring at her. She wondered how long she had been asleep. She blushed and saw Xena's hand extend and she was helped out of the caravan. Gabrielle followed after her and saw that they were in a military camp, not some fancy palace like Xena had in Athens. There was a particularly large tent and she figured that's where they were headed now. Xena immediately lead the way as she knew where she was going. Gabrielle skipped behind her trying to catch up to her and was now a few feet behind the tall imposing woman.

Phraates's guards outside of the tent went inside their master that the enemy had arrived. They opened the tent's flaps and Xena bent down careful not to hit her head on the wooden beam and stepped inside. Gabrielle stepped inside as well and saw the man she guessed was Phraates smoking a water pipe on a pile of animal skins and drinking some kind of alcohol. He seemed to be enjoying himself she gathered.

Xena frowned at the Persian ruler. "Phraates, I trust you received my letter."

Phraates smiled, "Xena!" he called out as he was rather high and his body warmed from the alcohol. "Yes," he cleared his throat, "I received your letter. Come have a seat, we are all friends here." He gestured for her to sit down. He eyed Gabrielle and his eyebrow raised. "And who is this?"

Xena sat down on a giant floor pillow leaning back on the pile of animal furs, "this is my scribe, Gabrielle. Hope you don't mind that she's staying," she eyed her blonde scribe and nodded curtly suggesting she sit down next to her.

Gabrielle slowly descended to the floor and crossed her legs and grabbed her scroll and quill ready to write anything down that Xena wanted.

Phraates eyed the fair skinned woman and grinned, "no I don't mind _at_ _all_..." he took a puff of his water pipe and handed it over to Xena which she graciously took from him. Gabrielle watched Xena inhale the smoke with ease. She then handed the hose to Gabrielle as she exhaled a large amount of smoke. She wasn't sure what was inside the pipe but she was sure it was something lethal by the looks of the Persian emperor.

Xena was waiting for her to take the hose and when she didn't she frowned, "take it Gabrielle." she pushed the tip of the hose closer to the blonde's mouth.

Gabrielle regrettably took the hose and inhaled the smoke slowly and immediately coughed a bit, she smiled and handed it back to Xena.

Phraates was amused and laughed, "I like her."

"Back to business, Phraates," Xena urged on after she inhaled a bit more smoke and handed him the hose again. "Where is that snake of a man, Marc Antony?" she demanded.

The Persian coughed and then took a sip of the alcohol, "you just missed him. He shall return though. Perhaps he's too much of a cunt to join us," he laughed.

Gabrielle wasn't sure if she should write this down so she just waited listening to this drunken Persian emperor, smoking his water pipe.

"I'd like to think you give him too much credit even with that insult," Xena smiled tapping her fingernails on her knees.

Phraates called out to his slave girl, "get some wine for my guests!" he clapped his hands and immediately a young girl dressed in Persian attire came with a tray of two wine goblets. Both women took the glasses and Xena smelled the wine wafting it close to her nose. "Is my wine not to your liking, Xena?" he asked, curious.

Xena smiled and sipped the wine, "just making sure you're not trying to poison me, dear Phraates."

Gabrielle swallowed the wine and her face went white. She hadn't even thought of that. She set the glass down fearful to drink from it again. She ought to be more careful next time. She forgets that Xena isn't a well liked woman in some areas.

He scoffed, "come on Xena, we're friends," he smiled inhaling a large amount of smoke from his pipe again.

Xena leaned in and took some dates from the bowl in the middle of their semi-circle meeting. "Are we? You want me to stop taxing you, do you not? Or was I mistaken in the letter you sent?" she eyed Gabrielle as she chewed on the piece of fruit.

Gabrielle was not fearful of the woman. What she had read had been true and she was sure that the Persian was trying to save his own life right now.

"Yeah about that. No hard feelings Xena, he just offered me a better deal," he shrugged.

Xena frowned, "I have been nothing but kind to you. I even allowed you to continue to be emperor in your own land. You get to own your empire, and pay a small tax to me since I own territories in your empire. Is that not what we agreed upon all those years ago?"

Phraates nodded, "yes indeed but Marc Antony has doubled what your treasury has given me all those years for those territories and he isn't going to tax me."

Gabrielle began scribbling everything down as fast as she could trying to write down every detail that she heard between the two rulers.

Xena sipped from her chalice, "than I'll triple that offer as long as you stay true to our agreement."

He rather liked this woman. Triple the offer? That was quite a lot of money and he knew that Xena had the money, it was very tempting.

He didn't answer so Xena continued, "alright, how about this...I triple my offer and you take it..and you get to keep your head?" she smiled wickedly.

There was that smile again, Gabrielle saw. She knew that her act of kindness wouldn't last.

Phraates tightened at her words and he suddenly felt his neck become very tense as she mentioned the loss of his head. She was known for impaling people and leaving their detached heads on pikes to show her importance and ruthlessness. He waved his hand at the guard to bring in his next in command. The guard went to retrieve the general.

Xena smiled, "so what have you? Have we got a deal or what?" she said taking the hose away from the Persian emperor.

"I thought I recognized that voice," a voice called from behind and Xena froze. She exhaled the smoke and saw the man coming around to face Phraates and herself. The tall, slender but yet muscular male smiled at her.

"Wow look at you, haven't changed at all have you, little sister?" Toris, Xena's older brother had a giant smirk on his face.

Gabrielle tried to hide her surprised expression but it was inevitable. Xena had an older brother? What in gods' name is this? She was rather intrigued by this.

Xena frowned, "what are you doing here? Do you work for this bastard?"

Phraates frowned, "whoa hey now, I thought we were friends?" he questioned feeling insulted. And then he realized that Toris said sister. "She's your sister?" he asked his general.

Toris nodded and sighed, "unfortunately."

"do not address me as your sister, Toris. I am an Empress of Athens," she said curtly staring intently into his blue eyes that matched hers.

He smirked, "that's General to you then," he retorted back.

Gabrielle was still writing and Xena grabbed her wrist halting her from writing. "Don't put this in there."

Toris looked to Gabrielle, "who's that? Your concubine?" he laughed lightly.

Xena huffed feeling very annoyed right now. This was not how this meeting was supposed to go. "She's my scribe," she said bluntly.

He nodded, "oh is that _all_ she is?" he grinned and Phraates couldn't help but laugh at the situation.

"Shut up!" Xena yelled at the Persian and he coughed halting his laughter. "How could you work for _him_?"

"I'd rather work for him than a tyrant like you, Xena," he addressed his sister just as any brother would and this made her furious.

Xena grabbed her sword that was hidden beneath her robes and got up holding it to Toris's neck. He backed up slowly and smiled at the sword. He knew Xena very well since they were children. She had changed much since that warlord came to destroy their village and took their youngest brother to the grave along with many other men.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked as the blade kept coming closer to his neck. Xena smiled at him and she pinned him against a pole inside the tent.

Gabrielle and Phraates were still on the floor watching the exchange between the two. They were in awe and Phraates drank his wine rapidly as he was in no hurry to stop the fight. It was amusing to him. Gabrielle on the other hand was worried what Xena might do to her own brother. She couldn't be so evil to kill her own brother, or maybe she would...she was unpredictable.

"Wouldn't want that secret of yours getting out would you?" Toris said in a whisper and Xena pressed the blade into his skin, cutting it gently and blood began to drip down his neck. He gulped and smiled nervously.

"I don't have any secrets!" Xena spat.

"you _don't_? didn't you give birth to a son or am I just imagining that?" he said with a smug smile.

Xena's face went from irate to pale in a few seconds. She released him from the hold and lowered her sword. "How do you know about that?"

Toris said nothing and kept staring into his sister's icy blue eyes which mirrored his own.

"Tell me!" Xena pinned him against the pole again.

He still didn't say anything and then she slapped his face and he still didn't respond although his blood began to boil. He didn't want to be beat up by his sister but he wasn't going to talk either.

"I demand you tell me," she hissed inches away from his face now.

Toris head butted Xena and she fell backward onto her back and she groaned.

Gabrielle gasped and Phraates leaned forward now more into the fight now. He grinned as he saw Xena laying on the floor like a defeated child. Gabrielle couldn't hear their exchange as they spoke quietly except for Xena's last demand. She stood up and called out, "Stop!"

Toris looked at the scribe and put his hands on his hips, "and just _who_ do you think you are? Why are you defending her? She's a tyrant and murderer," he kicked Xena and she flipped over onto her stomach and Xena frowned, getting up off the floor. Xena kicked Toris in the gut and he groaned as his backside hit the pole.

Xena hadn't used this method in a long time but she grabbed his head and kneed him in the face and threw him on the ground and used her knowledge of pressure points on his neck. She smiled as she saw her brother was immobilized now.

"Now, dear _brother_...you will tell me what you know or you will die a slow painful death in thirty seconds." She knelt down next him and saw him struggling to breathe and move his limbs to fight back.

Gabrielle couldn't handle this anymore, "Xena, don't kill him, we're not here for him..." she called out and Xena turned to her blonde scribe.

She couldn't believe the nerve of this woman. She was ordering her to do something. Oh this girl.. _this_ girl. Her eyes went back to her brother and saw his nose was bleeding. She hadn't seen him since she was eighteen back in their village and he fled when Lyceus died. She always thought it cowardly, but yet she pitied him all of these years.

"Xena..." Gabrielle said in a meek voice. This was not right, she thought. Xena this was not your intention. You don't want to kill your brother. He doesn't deserve to die. She pleaded with her eyes and Xena snarled and released her brother from the pressure points and stood up. Toris coughed up blood and rolled over onto his side trying to gain his composure again.

Xena went back to sit down on the pillow leaving Gabrielle to stare at Toris who was still suffering on the floor. She smiled though. Xena had listened to her.

Phraates smiled and drank more wine, "remind me to invite you here more often," he told Xena who sat opposite him.

She started to slow her breathing and watched Gabrielle closely as she sat down next to her. She glared at her and her lip twitched and she made sure she'd talk to her in private, but not now. That was enough of a show she was going to give Phraates.

Toris coughed some more and stood up and looked at his little sister. Their eyes locked and he spat on the floor at her and she looked at the glob of spit close to her boots.

"We shall have words later, then?" Xena smiled arrogantly trying to regain her composure after the little tiff they just had.

He couldn't believe the nerve of this woman. He was ashamed to be related to her. He stifled a mocking laugh and shook his head walking out of the tent holding his ribs.

Phraates handed the hose to Xena again and she took it without a question. "So, about this agreement..." he wanted to bring this up again.

"you agree or it's your head," Xena exhaled the smoke from her lungs.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: so this chapter is an important turning point for Xena and Gabrielle, but don't get sappy yet, Xena is still...Xena lol. This chapter is quite long as well as I had to include something very vital from the last chapter. I have included quite a few lines from the show, see if you can figure out which ones those are ;) Enjoy!**

_Chapter 10_

The meeting between Xena and Phraates did not last very long after the random fight caused by Toris, Xena's older brother. Phraates did not agree to anything that Xena offered and this surprised her. She concluded that Phraates was more involved with Marc Antony than she thought. She wondered how long they had been conspiring together, perhaps years, she didn't know but she didn't want their allegiance hindering her empire any further than it already has. She will have to do something drastic then, she decided.

Xena had suggested that her men make camp miles away from Phraates's camp as she didn't want his hospitality. It was infuriating enough that she had been shunned by him tonight and Toris was another story. She hadn't seen him in the camp as she and Gabrielle left the emperor's tent. Her royal guards had set up her giant tent in the center of her small camp and she was about to enter the tent when she turned to face Gabrielle.

"If you ever make demands of me like that again, I'll skin you from head to toe," Xena said inches away from her face, making sure her guards heard every word.

Gabrielle gulped and straightened herself out, "he's your brother..." she said, not even apologizing for what she did earlier. She didn't feel the need to apologize for what she did. She saved his life.

Xena sneered, "blood can be replaced by more blood Gabrielle. I do not care who's blood is spilled, even if it is the flesh of my flesh."

"He's still your brother. He didn't deserve to die, you know that." She hoped she wasn't over stepping her boundaries but it appeared she already did back in the emperor's tent.

Xena stepped back and smiled mockingly at Gabrielle. "you're not my conscious Gabrielle. I knew what I was doing, he had some information that I needed from him so-"

Gabrielle cut the empress off, "so you would attempt to kill him for it? How well has that worked for you in the past?"

Xena pulled out her sword and pointed it at Gabrielle's neck and she gritted her teeth. She saw that everyone was watching and then she pushed the blonde into her royal tent and she was on the ground now. Gabrielle huffed and got up from the floor and Xena entered the tent still with the point of the sword at her throat.

"You are testing my nerves, girl," Xena said with a wicked smile.

"What information was so important that you were willing to kill your own brother for?" Gabrielle stated, not the least bit scared that death was knocking on the door.

Xena remained her stance keeping the blade close to Gabrielle's neck. "Personal information, which is none of your business."

Gabrielle figured that the conqueror kept her personal life a secret for a reason. Little was known about Xena's personal life although tonight she found out that Xena had an elder brother, which meant that Xena was just like her. She once had a home, a family, a mother, a father, a brother, and friends. She gave all that up to become a destroyer of nations? That didn't make a lot of sense. Perhaps Xena was once a nice kind person and something snapped and she went berserk. Eventually the truth would come out. All of the Roman emperors did not hide their personal lives from their public especially Caesar and the House of Julii. Everyone knew who their family was, yet nothing horrid happened to them because the public knew that even though they were nobles, they had a connection with the common people. Xena had no connection with her people, they feared her. Toris was right, Xena is a tyrant and very impersonal with her people. She should allow the commoners to have a voice, similar to what Octavius has done with his people. They had somewhat of a voice and he actually listened to them. Xena didn't care about the people, all she cared about was power and her empire.

"...maybe you'd like to talk about it with someone? Keeping secrets for a long time can sometimes make people go insane."

Xena laughed, " _insane_? You think me insane? Are you a philosopher now? I didn't give you the job as my scribe to boast philosophical bullshit," she realized that the sword was not helping the situation and she hung it on a rack next to the entrance.

She started taking off her robe and she was dressed in a long sleeved black gown with a silver belt at her slim waist. She sat down on her bed and began unlacing her boots.

Gabrielle stood up thanking the gods for saving her life once more. She was starting to feel like a cat. "It's quite a surprise isn't it? Losing your humanity?" she thought aloud, she was beginning to lose a lot of lives here.

Xena's eyes trailed up to the short blonde and she displayed a crooked smile. "Excuse me?"

"Losing your humanity is the ultimate failure in life. Once you lose that...I don't know if you could ever come back from that," Gabrielle was just speaking in general, not particularly about Xena.

The raven haired empress scoffed, "Humanity is a simple thing Gabrielle." She threw her boots to the side, "we all want the same things, money, lovers, power...I just happen to have it all." She smiled.

Gabrielle could go on and on talking to Xena about how wrong she really was but was it worth it? she may never know. She shrugged and sighed, "you're right. You have it all."

Xena nodded, "and don't you forget that, little Gabrielle."

Gabrielle didn't say another word and made her way to the exit of the tent to go to a tent that was set up for her a few paces away, by Xena's request she was sure of. "Goodnight, Xena." She opened one of the flaps and left Xena's tent quietly treading to her own tent close by.

The conqueror released a groan and flopped onto the bed spreading her arms on the warm blankets and animal furs. She stared at the ceiling of the tent and began to think, it was never good when she started to think about things. She thought of her brother, Toris, whom she hadn't seen since she was a teenager just before Lyceus died. She regretted that day and was sure that Toris felt the same, or did he? There was one thing she wasn't so sure of and that was how Toris knew that she had a son. Only two people knew that she was pregnant, Borias and her slave girl at the time. As much as she hated Borias for his treachery she couldn't bring her thoughts to think that Borias would have told another soul of her pregnancy or that they had a son together. So, the question was still open. Who told Toris or how did he find out? Xena figured that her slave girl had gone to serve someone else after her camp and army were virtually destroyed during the birth of Solan. She knew that her maid wouldn't tell anyone, what would she gain from it? Nothing and besides nobody would believe a slave girl anyway. Xena began to start reminiscing her memories of what happened after Borias took Solan from her. She furrowed her eyebrows as it was so long ago her memories were starting to become fuzzy, but she did remember what did happen in the beginning.

* * *

_Fifteen Summers Ago, Rome_

Xena had left the small camp that Borias and her maid had made outside the city of Rome. She didn't really remember everything that happened as she was drugged while being carried out of her tent, but she did see flames, a lot of flames. She was sure that her entire camp was destroyed and who knows where her men had gone, if she had any left. She made her way back slowly up a large hill. Borias was nice enough to leave her a horse before he made his journey elsewhere. It was difficult climbing onto the horse as she was still weak and needed food and lots of water. She was sure she looked horrid, certainly she felt that way. She felt weaker than when she took a big hit from a battle. Never having children again, she told herself.

After an hour or so she arrived at her camp and there was still smoke, but her men seemed to put the large fire out. Her hair was wild and frizzy, her face flushed and body slightly dehydrated. She rode through the burned camp slowly and saw most of her men had stayed, some had gone and some had perished in fighting or perhaps couldn't get out in time from the roaring flames.

Some of the men saw Xena riding on a black horse through the camp and they stood up awaiting for her to come closer to them. Finally she came to them and she sighed loudly.

"We need to leave this place," she managed to say, apparent that she was very tired from the sound of her voice.

They nodded and one of the men spoke up, "Talius fled with some of the other soldiers, Xena."

She nodded and smiled tiredly, "of course he did. That coward, just take everything that is left here. We will go to the East, far from Rome," she spat on the floor and took the reins of the horse slowly trotting off. Suddenly she felt something warm between her legs and her fingers grazed her thighs –blood. Her eyes widened and she really wished she hadn't sent Tamara away with Borias, she was not so strong by herself, she began to tell herself.

Malak saw that Xena had halted and was staring intently at her hand, "Xena, are you alright?" he asked and saw her hand was covered in blood.

Xena felt her eyes becoming very heavy and her vision slightly blurred. She looked at Malak and blinked rapidly trying to focus her eyes, but it seemed to only get worse. Her mouth agape but no words to speak of. Suddenly her body was limp and she fell off the horse streaming unconsciousness. Malak grabbed her body before she was able to hit the ground. He touched her face, slapping her cheeks but she did not even stir, not even once. Panicking he searched her body for any cuts or gashes to see where the blood came from. He lifted up her tunic slightly and saw no gash on her sides or arms or her legs. Baffled he then saw her thighs were drenched with warm blood.

One of the soldiers saw that Malak was holding Xena on the ground and came rushing over as soon as he dropped off the weapons to a nearby wagon.

"What's wrong with her?" he knelt down and saw she was definitely passed out.

Malak was starting to feel very confused and yet disgusted at the same time. He had her blood on his hands and he cringed. "she's bleeding, she needs a woman to deal with this."

Kyle looked to see where she was bleeding and he understood. He stood up and looked around to see if he could find Tamara but she wasn't anywhere to be found. "What do we do now, chief?"

"Go find a woman somewhere, I don't know!" he picked Xena up in his arms and carried her to the weaponry wagon and lay her down in the back moving some weapons aside.

Kyle ran into the city and found many women but he didn't know who to choose. He finally saw a woman who looked like she knew how to handle this sort of thing. A brunette with dark brown eyes with a veil on her head was picking some herbs from a merchant and he approached her.

"ma'am can you come with me?" he asked kindly as he could.

She frowned, "who are you? You're not a Roman," she continued picking herbs then paid the merchant and carried her basket with her going back to her villa in the city.

"I really need your help, my commander is hurt...I mean...she's bleeding a lot," he didn't know how else to explain this situation.

The woman eyed him, "your commander is a woman?" she smiled. Good, finally someone other than a man was taking charge of the male population. Although she looked into the young man's eyes and saw concern for his commander. "Why do you need _my_ help? Can't you fix her?" she walked onward and he stopped in front of her.

He cleared his throat, "just please come with me, I am sure that she will pay you a reasonable sum for saving her life."

She was weary of this man, why does he need her so badly. She sighed, "just let me tell my husband then."

He grabbed her arm, "there really isn't time for that, ma'am. You see, she's bleeding um," he felt so awkward having this conversation with a woman right now.

The woman smiled and now understood, "I'm no midwife you know."

His eyes widened, "no she doesn't have any children!" he exclaimed.

Now she was surely confused. She looked to her villa in the distance and then sighed, "fine I will go with you. Take me to her."

For this Kyle was grateful that he didn't have to go into detail about this and so he lead the way and she followed behind him. He was rather in a hurry and the woman saw the burned camp. She had heard what happened to some woman and her army. Caesar had burned her camp, she never liked Caesar or his family. Kyle brought her to a wagon and she saw a rather tall, slim woman with dark hair laying in the back of the cart. The woman climbed into the cart and saw exactly what the man meant.

Malak stood outside of the cart, "can you help her or not, woman?" he barked.

The brunette frowned, "I will need some cloths, can you manage that?" she said with a sassy attitude but the men quickly grabbed anything they could find. Kyle ripped part of his pants off and gave it to the woman. Luckily she had a basket of herbs with her and she grabbed two bags of different herbs and placed them in her hands and used her spit to bind them together.

She looked behind them, "do one of you have a knife or something of the sort?"

Kyle grabbed his dagger in his boot and gave it to the woman. She took it and then stared at him, "I am going to need some privacy here," she smiled and both of them didn't argue and immediately turned around. The brunette cut Xena's pants carefully with the dagger. Yes she could definitely see the young man's concern but she checked Xena's body and was a bit baffled. She figured that the woman had just given birth and took to traveling much too quickly, stupid decision she shook her head.

About half an hour later she was done dressing Xena and had managed to stop the bleeding. She covered her body with the remaining of her pants. She saw that Xena was breathing more steadily now and even saw some color in the woman's cheeks again. The woman jumped out of the wagon and saw the two men waiting off in a corner somewhere. They seemed to have everything packed up and looked like they were going to flea somewhere with this commander woman of theirs.

"Well, she'll be alright, but she won't be able to walk around for a few days, just tell her that." The woman said.

Kyle and Malak looked to the young woman and nodded, "thank you for doing that..we uh, don't have any experience in that kind of...stuff." Malak said.

The woman smiled, "no worries," she started to walk away and Kyle caught up to her.

"Wait don't you want your money? I'm sure when Xena wakes up she will pay you greatly."

The brunette smiled and shook her head, "I don't want your commander's money, besides I need to return home."

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked confused as to why this woman didn't want anything in return.

The woman simply smiled and left not saying another word. She walked back alone to the inner city.

Malak looked to Xena and saw that she was still resting but didn't look as peaked as she did awhile ago.

"We need to leave soon even if Xena isn't commanding us at the moment. She said we move East, so when she wakes up we'll be on our way, got it?" he told Kyle.

The young soldier nodded and gathered up the remaining of Xena's army. Roughly three hundred men were still there and then they went on with their journey to the East far away from Rome.

* * *

The brunette woman returned home and it was close to dusk now. She set the basket of herbs down on the kitchen table and took off her veil hanging it on a chair. She began washing her hands and her husband appeared at the entrance and saw blood on his wife's hands.

"What's happened?" he grabbed her hand and looked worried.

She snatched her hand away and continued washing her hands in the water basin. "Nothing, I'm not hurt don't worry. Something very strange happened to me today." She dried her hands with a cloth and set out two plates on the table, getting ready to prepare dinner.

He smiled, "oh yeah, what's that? It must be strange because your hands were stained with blood, certainly not yours as I don't see any wounds," he scanned her body.

She smiled and started cutting up some vegetables, "some young soldier came up to me and asked me to save a woman's life. She was bleeding profusely and _obviously_ he didn't know what to do. When I got there, it was so strange," she stopped cutting the vegetables and stared at her husband.

"...what was so strange?"

"Well, it was apparent that she had just given birth. Maybe a day or two before I came to her, although there was no child with her or anywhere for that matter." She sighed, "anyway I helped her and so now I am here. That soldier insisted that I take her money but I didn't want it."

Her husband smirked, "wow so kind of you. What kind of a woman has money anyway?" he saw his wife's expression and he laughed, "I mean...you know what I mean. You said a soldier came to you?"

She nodded, "yeah he told me his commander needed my help," she shrugged.

He was very confused now, "a commander? His commander was a woman?"

His wife nodded again, "yes? I've never seen her before. Quite beautiful though, she had long black hair, olive skin and was quite tall. I think that was the woman's camp that Caesar burned down a few days ago." She said casually.

"do you remember if he said her name? the soldier, I meant," he was curious now.

She crinkled her nose in thought, "Oh yes, he said her name was Xena."

The husband's face went pale and then he started to become angry. She was here in his territory and he didn't even know. Caesar didn't release too much except he got rid of some problem of his a few days ago with a blazing fire. He knew that as he could see it from the city's square at night. He then slammed his fist against the wall startling his wife.

She jumped back and frowned, "what in Gaia's name is the matter with you?"

He groaned and then left the kitchen and went outside leaving his wife to attend to dinner by herself. He sat on the steps of his villa in the dark and watched as people were still out and about. He stared at the ground and shook his head. He looked at the exit of the city and wondered where she was going now. He was sure that she and her army were long gone by now. Xena, why do you get yourself into these things? He threw a rock on the ground and ran his fingers through his dark thick hair. He didn't really like to talk about his past with anyone and never even mentioned his family to his wife even though they had been married for three years now.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and his wife sat next to him on the steps. She rubbed his arm gently, "what's wrong? You seemed distressed when I said her name...do you know her?"

Sighing he nodded, "she's my sister, my little sister actually. We're five years apart."

His wife was rather shocked. She had no idea who Xena was and especially didn't know that Toris had a sister. She was intrigued now, very intrigued. She didn't know what to say so she stayed quiet waiting for her husband to say something more.

He shook his head and began to laugh, "Xena..by the gods..." he turned to his wife, "she had a baby you said?"

She nodded, "yes, two or three days ago, like I said."

Toris grabbed his wife's hands tightly and stared directly into her eyes, "tell no one about this, understand?"

* * *

Xena woke up the following day and saw she was in a weapons wagon. She groaned as she was still weak but she was alive. There was no blood anymore she checked. Slowly getting up to a sitting position she frowned, "stop, immediately!" she yelled making sure the horseman heard her. The wagon abruptly stopped and she opened the flaps of the wagon and saw a slew of her men staring at her as she was finally awake.

Malak smiled as he was riding on a giant brown horse. "you're awake, we didn't think you'd wake up."

"Where are we?" Xena asked looking around at the forest.

"We're going East like you told us to," he said with a firm voice.

She nodded and winced trying to move further out of the wagon to survey the area.

"The woman instructed us to tell you that you shouldn't walk for a couple of days," he added on as he saw she was trying to get out of the cart by herself.

Xena frowned, "what woman?"

Malak stuttered, "uh, the woman..she saved you..you bled a lot," he said in a quiet voice.

* * *

Xena suddenly remembered, but although she never saw the woman's face or even recalled those memories as they were soon forgotten when they reached Persia at that time. She jolted out of bed and grabbed her cloak and put it around her body, draping the hood over head. She grabbed her scimitar before leaving. There she stalked Phraates's camp in the shadows barefoot and watched every one of the men move about, drinking and having a good time. She crept behind each tent desperately looking for her brother amongst the men. She figured that since he was Phraates's general that he wouldn't be far from the royal tent.

She saw a tent close to Phraates's tent and a candle was lit. she recognized the silhouette of her brother. His thick short hair very obvious even in candle light. She crept silently crouching down like a snake and held her scimitar close to her watching to see if anyone was around.

Gabrielle couldn't sleep and she kept thinking of Xena and what she could be hiding. Groaning she sat up on the animal pelts and threw the blankets aside, and put her boots on. She needed to talk to Xena right now. Also, she didn't really know what the plan was for tomorrow. She was kept in the dark and that was something she didn't like about Xena. She was frightening sometimes, but also very cryptic. Coming out of her tent she saw the guards were having wine but still on the lookout. They saw her and became serious.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she smiled and they waved their hands dismissing her lie. She quickly went to Xena's tent and opened one of the flaps hoping that she'd be awake. "Xena...I need to speak with you..." she whispered, but alas no answer. Perhaps she was asleep? She peeked inside the tent but Xena wasn't there. The candles were still lit but she was nowhere in sight. Her boots were still on the floor, but Gabrielle noticed something missing on her weapon's rack. The scimitar, she made note of that weapon the moment she saw it. she sighed and then exited the tent. She's on a mission, a mission to _kill_. She knew that her brother had really gotten to her, but she didn't want Xena to kill her brother for some petty information.

* * *

Xena opened the tent's flaps and let out a loud cry startling her brother and he backed up grabbing his sword. She kicked his sword out of his hand and pushed him onto the bed and got on top of him revealing her face hidden beneath the cloak's hood.

"thought you had enough of me, did you?" Xena hissed and held the scimitar up his throat.

"you really should get off of me, Xena, before someone comes in here!" Toris yelled at her but that only made her angrier.

Toris managed to loosen Xena's grip on her weapon and he threw it aside. Xena snarled and then set her hands on his throat cutting off the air in his windpipe. He placed his hands on her neck as well, both tightening their grips the longer they stared at each other.

"Xena...don't do this," Toris coughed as her grip tightened even more. He was holding back on her but he figured that she noticed this and that made her even more pissed off than she already was.

Gabrielle wondered the camp silently and away from prying eyes until she saw a tent close to the emperor's tent. She saw two shadows, someone on top of someone and obviously choking them. She gasped and ran to the tent instantly thinking that Xena was set on killing her brother.

"Tell me how you know...and I shall let you live, _brother_!" Xena spat out as Toris's hands were still wrapped around her neck.

Gabrielle entered the tent and saw Xena on top of her own brother choking him to death. "Xena!" she yelled out and grabbed the scimitar that was laying on the floor.

Xena's thoughts were interrupted by that wretched blonde again. She continued onward and smiled as she saw her brother's life fading before her eyes, although she wanted him alive, she needed to know how he knew. That woman had something to do with it, she knew it had to be that woman, whoever she was.

"Xena, don't do it, whatever information he has probably holds no meaning," Gabrielle pleaded in a very serious tone but Xena did not stop or listen to her this time. She huffed and then came to the side of the bed and held the scimitar towards Xena.

Xena's eyes peered over and saw Gabrielle holding her sword at her. She frowned, "are you stupid, girl?!" this distracted her enough to lighten her grip and Toris kicked Xena off the bed and she tumbled onto the floor. He got off the bed holding his throat and stood to the side of Gabrielle.

"She's going to kill you," Toris said to Gabrielle.

The blonde smiled, "no she won't, we already crossed that road once before. She had plenty of chances to kill me."

Toris raised an eyebrow at this. What kind of scribe was this? She knew how to hold a sword that's for sure. Strange woman, he noted. He saw Xena get off the floor in a fit of rage and she stared directly at Gabrielle.

"why do you care what happens to him?" Xena asked Gabrielle, rubbing her throat.

"I don't," she responded in a cold voice.

Xena started laughing, "well then...tell more of your philosophical thoughts, Gabrielle." She mocked.

Gabrielle smiled still holding the scimitar towards Xena a few feet away. "I care about your soul."

The conqueror woman was simply shocked at this woman so she smiled devilishly, "you care of _my_ soul? Yet I burned your village, took your family away from you and stole your childhood from you. Wow, such a compassionate human being you are."

Toris didn't want to see this girl die at the hands of Xena. He knew that she was ruthless and would stop at nothing. He would have to tell her but he needed to stop this right now. He stepped in between Xena and Gabrielle.

"This is between me and Xena, not you, Gabrielle," he eyed his sister and saw a smile on her lips, an evil smile.

Gabrielle didn't put the sword down and stared directly into Xena's eyes. "you and I are not so different, Xena." Gabrielle said.

Xena folded her arms, still in defense mode just in case, she smiled mockingly, "is that so? Enlighten me with your profound wisdom."

"Perhaps you ladies need a room," Toris added still not sure what Xena was planning to do.

Xena frowned at her brother, "shut up, Toris. I'm not finished with you yet!"

"you made me, Xena, you shaped who I am today. For that I thank you. We're all gonna die eventually, but your brother doesn't deserve to die. It won't make you feel better."

Xena was growing irate with this woman talking to her like this. "You got one part right...we all die eventually...some deaths come sooner than others," she licked her lips staring at her blonde scribe. She started walking towards her and then Toris stopped her.

"Xena, that's enough. I will tell you, as long as you spare her life, she's good to you...too bad she chose an evil bitch to follow," he eyed Gabrielle but she smirked as she held the scimitar in her hands.

Xena nodded and then looked at Gabrielle, "fine, but _you_ need to leave. I shall deal with you later."

Gabrielle threw the sword onto the bed and left slowly from the tent and waited outside until Xena was done. Privacy was something that Xena wasn't used to she was sure of that, but she deserved as much...maybe.

Toris sighed and looked at his sister and he felt that he should be on the defensive mode with her but Xena seemed to be more calm now.

"so...how did you know?" Xena asked quietly making sure no prying ears were listening.

Her elder brother shrugged, "look, nobody told me and I kept it to myself all these years."

That seemed to make her feel better that her brother did that for her. He didn't have to do that.

"My wife told me she saved a woman who was bleeding a lot, she soon told me that it was you she saved. By the time she returned home, I was sure you were gone by then," he said and sat on his bed staring at her.

Xena nodded. So her inclination about the woman was right, she did have something to do with this tiff between her and Toris. "so where is she now? Your wife..."

Toris stood up and grabbed his shirt slipping it over his head, "she died two years ago."

Xena frowned at this, "oh..."

He dismissed it as he had gotten over it for awhile now, even though he did miss his wife dearly. They were never able to have children and he thought of Xena and her child for many years after that day. He often wondered why she did not appear to have any child of hers standing with her, perhaps the child died? He wanted to know, but feared that'd be too much ask. Although he could have outted her in front of Phraates as well as destroyed her reputation in her empire. She obviously hid this from everyone, he realized this.

"what did you do with the baby, Xena?" he asked fearful of her reaction.

Xena's eyes lit up and she frowned wishing not to talk about this, not with her brother. It was painful enough to see Solan after fifteen years. She should really kill of all her past encounters so she wouldn't have to be reminded of them anymore or run into them either.

"I gave him away, that's all you need to know," she turned to leave and before exiting she turned her head slightly over her shoulder. "Thank you for telling me and...sorry about your wife," she opened the flap and left. Before she left Toris gave her the sword back as well.

* * *

Xena saw Gabrielle standing outside of the tent and she rolled her eyes. "Not now Aristotle I haven't time for you, unless you want to die," she held the sword close to the blonde.

Gabrielle touched the point of Xena's sword and lowered it, "you shouldn't kill me. You need me, I'm your scribe."

"You're just a slave. I can find better scribes than you," she scoffed and started walking back to her tent.

"Then kill me," Gabrielle stated and Xena halted. "you can't can you?"

Xena turned around and grabbed Gabrielle by the arm pulling her aside into the shadows. It was very dark and they could barely see each other's silhouettes but Xena's was very obvious. Her sword gleamed in the darkness, the moonlight reflecting off the blade.

"You like the dark, Gabrielle?" she circled the blonde watching her every move. Her eyes were very well trained for darkness.

Gabrielle felt her eyes roaming around trying to hear the sound of Xena's footsteps but she was very good, too good. She couldn't hear anything but the sound of occasional voice.

"Listen to the sound of nothingness. Isn't it quite unsettling? You hear the sound of your own heartbeat in your ears...coming so loudly that all your surroundings become enhanced. Your sense of smell becomes one like a wolf, your ears like a cat, your eyes...like a bat." Her words hissed in the night as she continued to circle Gabrielle at a far enough distance. She saw Gabrielle turning her head from side to side trying to figure out where she was, but failed.

Gabrielle felt her breathing becoming heavier the more she looked around. She didn't see Xena anywhere which was now making her nervous. "Is this how you stalk your prey?" she called out into the wilderness. They were far enough from camp to where nobody would hear her even if she yelled.

"you mentioned you cared for my soul..now why would a poor girl like you care for my soul of all people?" her voice becoming softer, more menacing.

Gabrielle looked around and saw nothing. She steadied herself, "you're filled with hate Xena. You have a cycle of hatred that will follow you until death."

Xena laughed, "many people have tried to kill me. I always win."

"is that all life is to you? Winning? You haven't tried to understand life at all...you simply go through the motions. Your life isn't a life, Xena. It's a nightmare."

Xena finally appeared and came behind Gabrielle and held her close to her body with her sword at her neck. "Have you listened to yourself talk? You think that I care for other's lives? I certainly don't care for yours." She smiled.

Gabrielle saw the blade and the moonlight's reflection revealed Xena behind her and a grand smile was planted on her face.

"you seem to care enough to listen to what I have to say," she boldly said.

Xena laughed and then held the sword closer to Gabrielle's throat.

Gabrielle backed up a bit and felt Xena's warm body against her, making her even more nervous than she already was. "When I said you murdered children...you seemed troubled by it..." she tried to distract the woman.

"Not troubled, Gabrielle. You merely spat lies about me. I do not murder children, never have and never will."

Gabrielle smiled, "if you were a such a horrible tyrant that your brother claims you to be...wouldn't you slaughter women and children as well? It seems you are not such a tyrant after all."

Xena released Gabrielle and threw her onto the ground. Her breath was noticeable as the air was very cold and rigid. Gabrielle saw Xena's dark silhouette standing in front of her as she stood in direct moonlight.

Xena couldn't fathom the words from this girl's tongue. Why was so keen on talking to her like this? She would never understand. "Why aren't you afraid to die?" she asked.

Gabrielle stared at the dark figure before her, "most people think of death as the end, when in fact, death can be the beginning."

Xena watched Gabrielle as she stayed on the cold ground staring at her. She could see her stern expression but her face was ever so soft. This girl had been through so much in her short life, considerably younger than Xena was, but still, she'd been through a lot. Xena was known throughout the world as a destroyer of nations, and according to Toris, a tyrant as well as a murderer. Xena knew who she was and knew how she came to be like this but the more Gabrielle spoke the more she started to question her abilities to kill, her will to kill. Her will had been blinded by this blonde warrior woman and she didn't know how to take it all. Xena used to relish in the fear that she posed on her people in her empire but staring at a defenseless woman before her, with no weapons. She wouldn't kill a woman, she told herself this, she promised herself this, but this woman made her want to kill her. She had many opportunities to get rid of her for good, but then she'd go back on her word. Has her word meant nothing all those years of battles and wars? Had she built an empire on a lie? Children died because of her, maybe not by her sword, but her spitefulness and lack of communication. She remembered when Gabrielle told her of the poverty of children in her empire near the Thracian territories. Xena was from there...she once was a child, she had –has a child of her own.

She was becoming so engrossed with power that she began to stop thinking of her people. She never really cared much for them as long as they paid her the taxes she wanted everything was fine, but was that enough? Obviously not if children were dying because of her. Families dying and living in poverty while she lives in a palace. The longer she stared at Gabrielle the more angry she became at herself for even listening to this woman in the first place. Now that she was in Persia she had to deal with two male royal figures, both of which she did not really care for. Phraates betrayed her and allied with Marc Antony. She had met him once and never liked him anyway, but the fact that he was friends with her allied partner, meant that she needed to do something about it. War was needed and the question was...who was going to back her? She had thousands of men at her will in her army that would die for her, yet she stands here talking to Gabrielle... a slave, a Roman slave no less. If she lost the Persian territories then all might be lost to her and her empire would dwindle away along with her dignity.

Xena's thoughts were racing through her mind the longer she stared at Gabrielle. She had no desire to kill her anymore, but she still didn't like the sight of her. The woman made her think and that was always a poor idea. If she went to war with Persia and Rome then she might not win, she had thought of this scenario before. She always wanted to win but win her way, perhaps she would have to win another way.

She held her hand out for Gabrielle and this surprised the blonde scribe. Gabrielle took Xena's hand and was gradually helped up off the cold ground.

Gabrielle was fearful of what Xena was going to do next so she stayed standing in front of the tall woman waiting in the darkness. She was able to see that Xena's eyes were soft, not hardened like usual.

"The children you mentioned in my empire..." Xena said quietly. "you say they starve because of their poor living conditions."

The blonde nodded, not wishing to utter another word for once in her life.

"Perhaps...that shall change in the foreseeing future."

Gabrielle smiled at Xena, she did listen to her after all. Children seemed to be her weak spot.

Xena smiled in return. A warm smile.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: this is a very long chapter, but much needed. Thank you for reviewing and reading! Enjoy :)**

_Chapter 11_

The following morning Xena had awoken at dawn and dressed herself in an off-white robe with a matching corset and khaki colored harem pants which tucked neatly in her white boots. It had been awhile since she had worn anything that was not of a dark color. Darkness was her crutch and she held onto that for many years, but soon everything will change. Phraates and Marc Antony will learn, they will learn. She had been twirling and fidgeting with her scimitar for the last few hours in her tent. Her guards were posted outside and she awaited to hear from Phraates but nobody ever came to her tent. Surely the sun would have woken up the Persian emperor.

Xena was practicing her swordsmen skills, swiftly slicing the air with the blade until she heard the flap of her tent open. She stopped and turned to see exactly who she wanted to see, it was Gabrielle. About time, she thought. The blade within her grasp pointed directly at the blonde scribe and she smiled.

Gabrielle was wearing an outfit very similar to Xena's by accident, she noted. She smiled at the warrior queen. "Is this part of your morning ritual?" she gestured to the scimitar in Xena's hands.

The warrior queen twirled the sword in her strong wrist and began circling showing off her skills. She paused and thrust the sword forward. One could hear the blade's swooshing sounds the faster she toyed with it, making a mock battle right in front of her. Gabrielle stood and watched Xena and noticed that she was very graceful with her sword. It was almost like watching a dancer with silk sashes, trying to impress her guests. Xena definitely was not a dancer of any sort Gabrielle figured that much, but she certainly had her own style as she admired her skills before her.

"I have not set foot in a battlefield in a very long time," Xena admitted. Even she thought that it sounded cowardly of her. It was true that she didn't really need to go into battle anymore as she had her own empire and wimpy emperors had stopped trying to slay and conquer her lands a long time ago. She didn't feel the need to go claim her place in the battlefield anymore, as everyone knew who she was and where she stood. The only problems that she faced were the wretched Romans and their enemies. Xena especially disliked that Cleopatra woman, she was in cahoots with Antony, that much she knew. Marc Antony was a whore and so was the Egyptian Queen, everyone knew of their little orgies and opium parties.

Xena had never been to a Roman party but heard that they were quite extravagant. Perhaps one day she would go, just do indulge herself in squeezing politics out of the Roman elites for her own benefit.

Gabrielle continued to stand at the entrance and then let out a loud sigh as Xena continued dancing around with her scimitar. Suddenly the warrior halted and placed her sword within the sheath at her hip.

A smile graced the warrior's lips and Gabrielle almost spoke but Xena put her fingers over her lips to quiet the scribe. "Do you hear that?" Xena asked as her eyes lit up with fire.

Gabrielle's ears perked up and her eyebrows lifted into her blonde wispy bangs. "Horses...who is that?"

Xena brushed past Gabrielle and exited her tent only to prove her initial thoughts correct. "Marc Antony," she grinned.

* * *

Moments later Antony and some of his men arrived in Phraates's campsite. He saw Xena standing at the entrance of the camp alongside Phraates. She looked beautiful as ever, just like he remembered. Thoughts of their past encounters came to his mind, but then he suddenly recalled what an evil woman Xena really was and he pushed those memories aside for the time being.

He jumped off his horse and hugged his Persian friend with a grand smile, then he eyed Xena who was looking very mischievous. She had her arms crossed and her height matched his own, perhaps a few inches taller than him because of her boot heels. Antony forced a smile and held his hand out to the warrior woman.

Xena glanced down at his hand and then her eyes met his. "I thought you were never going to show up, Marc Antony." She grabbed his hand tightly and dug her thumb in the spot in between his index finger and thumb. Her grin ignited satisfaction in his sudden agony in that particular pressure point. "Did you think that you were going to just slink by and not have receive a proper greeting from a dear old friend?"

Her eyes bore a fire within her, Antony saw this and he wasn't going show his displeasure of Xena being here so he simply nodded, not revealing the excruciating pain in his hand.

"It's always a pleasure seeing you, Xena," he forcefully pulled back his hand rubbing his thumb and index finger behind his back. Xena grinned in return.

Gabrielle noticed that the interaction between Marc Antony and Xena. It was most peculiar and somewhat forced. She figured that they had been friends at some point or at least not enemies, but now that Phraates was allied with Antony, Gabrielle could see that this meeting between these three would not end very well. Or perhaps it would be very intense.

* * *

Later the three rulers were inside Phraate's tent and Gabrielle sat next to Xena ready with her parchment and quill. Antony had his share of wine, but Xena kindly refused the wine. Gabrielle thought that was rather strange of her. She noted awhile ago that Xena really enjoyed her alcohol especially around emperors, but it seems that the warrior queen wanted to be alert and sober during this discussion. So far there had been no arguments and Xena stayed quiet during the little meeting.

"So Xena," Antony began leaning in towards her and Xena raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what he was planning next. She kept her guard up the closer the man got to her. "What brings you to Persian territory?" he smiled sipping his wine.

Xena scooted away and leaned back on some pillows, crossing her legs. "Well I have been simply waiting for your arrival, Marc Antony." She slyly retorted. Antony frowned then sat up straight. He knew that wasn't the reason why she was here.

He then eyed the blonde scribe who seemed to be scribbling away. "Is this your scribe, then?" he gestured to Gabrielle.

Xena glanced over at Gabrielle who now halted in her writing and her eyes drifted to Xena. "Indeed she is, do you have a problem with her recording this meeting? I just want things...to be... _fair_ ," she smiled.

Phraates could sense tension rising in the room so he thought it'd be best to begin talking of what might come next. Plans would have to be changed since Xena is here, or he'll just keep the plans secret from her, he thought. Yes, I will do that then.

"Let us talk about business then," the Persian said smoking his water pipe casually. Antony and Xena relaxed a bit and awaited for further discussion. "So let me begin by saying that I decided to ally with Marc Antony," he eyed Xena and saw she was ticking her fingers on the hilt of her sword. He cleared his throat, "because of Octavius. He wants to take over Egypt permanently and with Cleopatra Queen of Egypt still alive, and unwilling to comply...Antony asked me to side with him against Octavius."

Xena started laughing softly, "you allied with Marc Antony because he has a childish tiff with the Roman Emperor?" she laughed more, "that is so _ridiculous_! Antony sides with Cleopatra. She is an unfit Queen and Octavius obviously sees that."

Antony could feel his blood boiling as Xena spoke of Cleopatra like she was some trollop. "He is out of control Xena, I can't believe you of all people are defending a Roman," he rolled his eyes.

Xena shrugged her shoulder, "I side with no one, Antony. I simply am agreeing with Octavius. He wants Egypt and Cleopatra out of the way, but see you both fail to realize something," her eyes narrowed as her smile grew wider.

Gabrielle felt a smile creeping up on her as she heard Xena giving these two men a run for their own money. She continued to dip the quill in the ink pad and write as fast as she could. Both men awaited for Xena's response and the tension was growing the longer she stayed quiet.

"I have a pact with the witch and own some of her territories. If Octavius wants Egypt he will have to war with me as well as...you two fools," she smiled more as she saw the expressions on both of their faces. They looked like two stoned deer.

"You failed to calculate that in your little battle plans, didn't you?" Xena said as she was thoroughly enjoying this moment right now.

Antony began shortly after Xena's little retort, "if you have a pact with Cleopatra then you side with us, not Octavius."

Phraates nodded, "indeed Antony is correct. So essentially we are allied partners here."

Xena chuckled and shook her head, "see that is where you are both mistaken. I side with no one. If Octavius wishes to rule Egypt he will have to war with me first. I could care less about Cleopatra. She is an annoying twig of a brat. If she dies, then Egypt is...well, I suppose Egypt would be _mine_ ," she broke out a crooked smile and looked over at Gabrielle who was still writing. She grabbed Gabrielle's hand and stood up bringing the scribe up with her. Gabrielle dropped her quill on the rug and was quite shocked at Xena's abrupt urge to leave.

"I need to return to Athens, my stay here has been...interesting. I hope to see you two again," she smiled and turned to exit the large tent. Gabrielle hurriedly grabbed her quill and ink pad to follow Xena.

As soon as Xena left with her scribe Antony and Phraates stared at each other in complete shock. How could she just lambaste them like that? And has she been playing this game ever since she found out about the alliance between the two men? Who knows. They certainly didn't know what she was going to do now.

"Do you think she's going to consult Octavius?" Phraates posed a rather serious question.

Antony scoffed, "doubt it. That's not how she plays these sort of things," he downed his wine and grabbed the bottle pouring more into his cup. "The nerve of that Thracian bitch, I swear by Zeus I want to see her fall," he shook his head.

* * *

Hours later Xena and her small entourage set off back to Athens. They traveled by foot and horse until they would reach the sea days later. It wouldn't take them too long. Xena and Gabrielle were once again riding in the caravan comfortably while her men marched and rode in the cold weather.

Gabrielle was organizing the scrolls she had written during the trip and she rolled them up putting them inside cases. Xena watched her as she graciously handled the scrolls as if they were her children.

"you like writing?" Xena asked interrupting Gabrielle. The blonde stopped and her eyes met Xena's blue marbles. She smiled and continued rolling the parchment up carefully.

"Well, I haven't written a very long time, but yes I do enjoy it," Gabrielle still had a smile on her small lips as she continued with her scroll rolling.

Xena nodded her head and stared at Gabrielle. She really didn't understand this girl and the more she tried to the more it made her think of all the horrible things she had done in her past. This girl was like the chronos stone, turning her memories back on her and making them a reality –her sad, lonely reality.

"Do you hate me for what I did to your family?" she asked in a very blank unreadable tone. Her face stone cold, but yet her question not cold, but curious.

This time Gabrielle stopped rolling the scrolls and set them aside to divide her attention to the conqueror woman in front of her.

"Why do you ask?" Gabrielle was now curious what this woman was up to. Did she want her to suffer some more? She had already come to terms with her deceased family and missing sibling.

Xena looked outside of the caravan at the snowy white mountains and casually said, "I am just curious, that is all. I have...never thought of any of my victims as I have never had the chance to sit so close to them, like I have you."

Now Gabrielle understood what was happening here. The conqueror was feeling guilty, this must have been a new feeling for her. She sighed, "I stopped hating you a long time ago. If I still had a heart filled with hate I would have never been able to move on in life."

The conqueror cracked a smile then chuckled lightly, "do you always lie to yourself like that?" her eyes now reverted back to Gabrielle who was very serious, but yet she seemed sincere in what she said.

Gabrielle's eyebrows furrowed as she was confused at what Xena said. She fumbled, "it's not a lie, Xena. To carry hate..it...it takes a toll on your body, your soul, your heart. I just can't do that to myself, not anymore."

Xena's smiled disappeared. "So you didn't hate me when you tried to kill me in my own home?" she asked with a bit of bite apparent in her words.

The caravan was silent and the two women stared at one another for quite some time until Xena waved her hand dismissing the question. She knew that Gabrielle hated her still, and she couldn't even admit it to herself.

"I was angry," Gabrielle blurted out.

Xena turned her head and raised an eyebrow. She speaks, finally. She's so good at talking, she marveled at this but at the same time it still annoyed her. It didn't annoy her as much as it used to now that she had been around her for some time now.

Gabrielle continued, "I was angry that I was brought in as a slave. I'm not a slave. I was a farmer's daughter. And of all people you..." she let the rest of her sentence slip off and Xena awaited for her to finish.

"Me what? All of people I, what?" Xena demanded to know. Her voice becoming more like a empress than a casual discussion.

She sighed, "all of people _you_ bought me. It couldn't have been someone else, but it had to be you. The cause of my pain for many years. It was..." she looked to her scrolls trying to distract herself and not look into Xena's bright blue eyes, which were quite scary at the moment. "It was too much for me to handle to be in the home of a murderess. The woman who killed my family."

Xena felt a sting in her chest as she said those words to her. She rather fancied this girl in a strange way and her words actually got to her. It took someone special to do that to her. She didn't like to hear those words, although she had heard many things about her. She had been called many horrible names by other warlords and common people. That didn't bother her, but the fact that Gabrielle said those things, it bothered her and she didn't like that. She shouldn't have asked in the first place. Curiosity killed the cat, she thought. No more questions from now on then.

"I'm sorry, I should have said nothing," Gabrielle added as she saw Xena was not saying a word. She noticed the woman's jaw tighten at her words.

Xena waved her hand dismissively. "I have heard worse things, Gabrielle."

"you know," she scooted closer to the pillows on the side of the caravan considerably closer to Xena. This made the woman flinch a bit although she did not move away from her, instead she just stared intently as her eyes widened. Gabrielle situated herself and crossed her legs in front of her leaving plenty of room for Xena to stretch her legs out comfortably. "I saw something in you back in the camp. Something new." She smiled.

Xena suddenly was recalling everything that happened back at the camp and nothing came to mind. This girl was far too curious and perhaps overstepping her boundaries. But, it wasn't very often that Xena shared her caravan with anyone else so she relented. "And what might that be?" she asked in an inquiring tone.

"I realized that even you, had a normal life once, like me," Gabrielle smiled as this made Xena feel very uneasy. "you are a sister, a daughter to someone, just like I was. We are not so different, Xena."

The conqueror shook her head, "Gabrielle you and I are nothing alike. I've done horrible unspeakable things. You and I are not comparable," her eyes went back to gaze at the mountains and beautiful desert landscape trying to distract herself from this conversation.

"See that's where you're wrong," she scooted closer and now Xena slowly scooted away feeling uncomfortable. Gabrielle put her hands up showing submission and promised she wouldn't move any closer, probably better anyway, for her safety.

"I know there's more to you than being a warlord, Xena. I just don't think you have that figured it out by yourself," her eyes twinkled and she cracked a crooked innocent smile.

Xena looked at her then folded her arms not wishing for this conversation to continue. "Don't you have some scrolls to roll?"

Gabrielle figured that was the best response she was going to get from her and she smiled still, moving back to her side to continue rolling scrolls packing them in a large shoulder bag. She looked up and saw Xena was intently focused on looking outside of the caravan. She wanted to laugh at the uncomfortable woman but she kept it to herself. The rest of this ride was going to be very long and very quiet, she was sure of it especially with the questions she posed to Xena.

* * *

After a long five days Xena, Gabrielle and her army landed in the port of Athens. Xena was very eager to get back home and away from those two losers in Persia. Antony was going to regret this for sure. They entered the palace and the first thing she was going to do was take a long bath especially being at sea for a couple of days she was sure she smelled like salt water and her hair was very frizzy from the humidity.

As soon as she entered the main entrance she saw some unexpected guests in her villa staring at her disheveled appearance and suddenly she felt embarrassed. Ten years ago she would not have cared what she looked like, but she had a reputation to uphold. Gabrielle trailed behind her and she nearly ran into Xena. She peered behind the tall woman and saw who was in the villa. This was a never-ending adventure for Xena, it seemed.

"Hello Xena, I hope you don't mind, but I was in Athens and figured I'd wait until you came back from your journey to speak with you."

Xena quirked her nose to the side and folded her arms, "well you'll have to excuse my...attire. We've had a very long trip."

Octavius sat down in a large chair and waved his hand, "it's no matter. I can wait until you've cleaned up. We have some things to discuss."

She nodded and then turned to see Gabrielle standing there like a lost puppy. "Go sit next to him and interrogate him. Find out why he's here," she whispered.

Gabrielle was flabbergasted. She wants me to what? By the gods is she crazy? "you want me to interrogate him? Won't that seem kind of strange for a scribe to do?"

Xena realized that might come off as rather bizarre but she shrugged, "new promotion for you," she smiled patting her shoulder and quickly ran up the stairs to make herself presentable.

Gabrielle took in a deep breath and brushed her white robe off and ran her fingers through her hair and went to introduce herself to Octavius properly this time. She smiled as she head into his direction. He smiled back as he was handed a glass of wine by one of the servant girls.

"I remember you, you're Xena's gladiator woman, are you not?" he said taking a sip of the wine.

Gabrielle smiled, "actually, I'm not her gladiator anymore. I'm her scribe and...new assistant, personal assistant," she fumbled with her words hoping that this man would believe her.

Octavius nodded, "you know how to write? Excellent. For a slave of course. She obviously must think very highly of you."

She nodded nervously and sat across from him and pulled out an empty scroll from her bag and took out her quill ready to write. She heard some yelling from afar and looked around but saw nobody. "What was that?" she asked him.

The Roman rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Solan begged me to take him with me on this trip. He _desired_ to see Athens," he sighed.

Gabrielle remembered the young lad. He was quite ambitious she noted. This was going to be very awkward then if Solan is here because she stood naked in front of him, his aunt and Xena of course. She wanted to erase that from her mind, but couldn't. After all that standing and humiliating exposure she didn't even get to see the finished product of Solan's drawing. But then as she thought some more, she probably didn't want to see it after all.

She dipped the quill into the ink pad and stared at the Roman emperor before her. She hadn't had this opportunity and was grateful that Xena had given it to her to her surprise. Perhaps she was climbing the ladder in Xena's mind.

"So, what brings you to Athens? What is your business with Xena?" she questioned hoping that she sounded serious enough to have a conversation with the emperor.

Octavius coughed and sat up straighter, "well perhaps we ought to wait for Xena to arrive and discuss this matter in more detail."

Gabrielle knew that he wasn't going to take her very seriously. Okay time to get serious Gabrielle. "Xena asked me to question you while she is getting ready." Her voice more firm and louder than usual.

He noticed the sudden change of the woman's tone and he grew more stoic now. Putting on his emperor face, not relaxing anymore. "Alright. Well I heard she went to see Phraates and she spoke with him, is that true?"

Gabrielle nodded.

"Did she happen to speak with Marc Antony?" he was curious now. He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair.

She noticed this and saw he was becoming rather impatient at her lack of response as a few silent moments went by. I cannot let him intimidate me. "Yes for a brief time, but it was purely business. She allies with no one."

He nodded, "that is good to hear. What did they talk about?"

Gabrielle smiled at this. "I am asking the questions here. Xena will have to tell you that herself, I'm not allowed to discuss those details with others." She didn't know if this was true but she wanted to make sure that he was going to take her seriously.

Ten minutes or so went by and Gabrielle grilled Octavius on his stay in Athens and why he had come here and how he found out about Xena's trip to Persia considering that she was just in Rome the week before it was rather odd that he found out so soon. It seemed that he had Roman troops in that area and happened to see Xena's caravan in Phraates's territories and alerted him immediately. The message took a few days, but he mentioned that he was going to make a trip to Athens anyway as he had other military business to discuss with his troops stationed in Egypt. Athens was just a pass by city for him, but then Gabrielle remembered that Xena didn't let anyone just walk into Athens or pass her boarders without her knowing. Octavius explained that she allowed other emperors to pass by in her domain every now and then if they had business with her or potential business. Also, he was Rome and his word seemed to trump hers, at least that's what he made it sound like in Gabrielle's mind.

Solan came running in with a really long wooden sword and drenched in sweat. He was shirtless and barefooted as well. He had interrupted their little meeting, although Gabrielle was rather thankful at this point as she didn't know what else to ask the emperor. A servant came with a couple of fresh towels for Solan and he dabbed his forehead and face with the towel tossing the sword on a nearby chair.

His eyes turned to see Gabrielle sitting in a small chair close to his uncle. His face gleamed as he saw her. He gave the towel back to the servant girl and put his hands on his hips. "I remember you! You're that awesome gladiator, right?"

"Well actually..." Gabrielle wanted to elaborate but he wouldn't allow that as he interrupted her.

"Your fighting skills are superb. I'd love it if you'd teach me some of your moves," his smile was hopeful.

Gabrielle blushed at the compliment and suddenly saved by Xena entering the room. All eyes were on her now and for that she was thankful. Xena wore a green gown and her hair piled atop of her head as it was still damp from her bath.

Xena's eyes went from Gabrielle to Solan. Why was he here? Not this again, she thought. I don't need any more distractions.

Octavius stood up to greet Xena after all he was inside of her home. He eyed Solan and he quickly retreated to find his tunic to slip over his head.

She sat down next to Gabrielle and across from Octavius. "I trust that Gabrielle was amenable to you."

He nodded, "of course. She is very...interesting. she said she is your scribe as well as your assistant?" he questioned just to make sure this was a fact.

Xena glanced over at Gabrielle and she saw the blonde avert her gaze. Assistant huh? Well played Gabrielle. She smirked, "indeed she is."

Gabrielle saw that she did not abject and for that she was surprised and appreciative as she didn't want to be embarrassed. Solan came to sit down next to Octavius and she noticed that Xena stiffened at this. What is up with her and this boy? Either she didn't like him or somehow something happened between them that she was unaware of. Although the teen didn't sense any tension between himself and Xena, so Gabrielle made a mental note of this, reminding herself to ask Xena about this later in a more private setting.

"So you wanted to discuss something with me, Octavius? You are a long ways from home," she tapped her fingers on the arm chair trying to distract herself from looking over at Solan who was obviously intently staring at her.

Octavius cleared this throat, "Yes. You spoke with Marc Antony and as you know he has allied with Phraates. Your dear friend, I know," he smiled.

"And you want Egypt, I know." Xena retorted with a forced smile.

He gathered that she wanted him to get to the point, which he wouldn't mind that. "Right, I want you to...side with me in this potential war. I need Marc Antony to get rid of Cleopatra as an ally. She has something I need and he is just in the way."

Xena laughed, "now why would I want to side with you? You know my stance on Romans, Octavius."

He nodded remembering his adoptive uncle, Caesar and the stories told to him as a boy when they were feuding. "I know, Xena, but hear me out. If you ally with me Marc Antony and Phraates don't stand a chance at winning, well obviously they are going to lose anyway."

"You seem sure of yourself, uncle," Solan spoke up.

Gabrielle stifled a laugh and Xena inwardly smiled at this. Even the boy doubts the great Roman emperor uncle of his.

"Gabrielle may I request something of you?" Octavius inquired and then his eyes went to Xena. "If you don't mind?"

She shook her head and waved her hand allowing him to speak freely.

"Why don't you show Solan some of those 'awesome' moves as he called them, for awhile?" he smiled hoping that the scribe woman would agree.

Gabrielle looked to Xena and then saw her jaw tighten sensing that she didn't like that idea. A moment went by before Xena gave it the okay for her to take her leave. She stood up setting her scrolls in Xena's lap and took Solan outside in the gardens. She felt like a babysitter suddenly.

Xena watched the two retreat outside and saw Solan was very excited to spare with Gabrielle. She wished that she had just a moment alone with him, although once again, she didn't know what to say. She couldn't just come right out and say who she was as it wouldn't really matter now. He was getting older and figured that his life was better without her in it.

Octavius was talking to her but she didn't hear a word he was saying. It was all a fog until he said her name quite loudly and she snapped out of her hazy moment.

"If you don't want your assistant to spar with Solan I can send her back in," he suggested as he noticed her eyes were intently on the two outside. They were visible from her seat.

She shook her head dismissively, "no, no, it's fine. I'm just very tired."

"I understand you've had a long journey but we shall be leaving Athens shortly."

Xena's eyes widened and suddenly she didn't want him to leave. If he leaves then Solan leaves. "so soon?" her voice impending eagerness and something unexpected coming from her.

He was taken aback by this but continued on, "yes, but anyway back to what I was saying. I was going to suggest that if you release your hold on the Egyptian territories I could go speak with Cleopatra and try to make a deal with her."

Well, to be honest, Xena didn't really like the Egyptian Queen, but she didn't want to give up her territories that she worked so hard for either. She wasn't going to be a pawn in a Roman's game any longer. Not again, she vowed.

"why don't I grant you access into Egypt instead? That way I get what I want and you get what you want, fair enough?" Xena was feeling very giving today and she hoped Octavius would oblige. She knew he could be very stubborn sometimes but she didn't have time for that.

He could see that she wasn't going to change her mind and it was going to be a battle if he continued this on so he relented. "Fine, agreed then. I shall be on my way then." He stood up setting the wine glass on a nearby table.

Xena stood up and glanced over at Solan training with Gabrielle. "why don't you stay for awhile? I'm sure your journey has tired you out immensely. Just for a little while longer?" she insisted and her girls brought him more wine and he sighed but took the wine and sat down.

She smiled, "Perhaps I shall throw a party soon, would you stay? It would be an honor to have you here, after all, you are in my home, my city, _my_ empire..." her last words she put emphasis on and Octavius took note of that. He realized that if this agreement between them was going to work he'd have to please the woman as she was known to change her mind quickly if angered or displeased. He didn't argue but instead raised his glass in the offer. Xena grinned at this and she too grabbed a glass and clinked his as a sign of unity. Temporary unity that is.

"if only your uncle was as amenable as you, Octavius. We could have been such great _friends_ ," she winked and disappeared to go outside to the gardens.

* * *

Gabrielle had stripped herself of her white robes and was now in a long sleeved tunic which was making her sweat. She hadn't had time to change like Xena did and the weather in Greece proved to be much hotter and more humid than the Persian mountains they were in a few days ago. She wiped the sweat off her brow and smiled as Solan was trying his best to attack her but in truth, he was bad, really bad.

"Can you try to come at me again?" Solan said sounding a bit defeated.

She sighed and obeyed and came at him again. This didn't end well as he was now lying flat on his back and his sword knocked out of his hand a few feet away.

Xena saw them sparing and Solan thrown onto the ground by a woman half his size. She set her glass down on the ground and folded her arms wondering if he was going to get up, but Gabrielle definitely had him. She was good, very good.

Gabrielle breathed heavily and then stood up straight lending her hand to Solan but he pushed it aside feeling very irritated. This woman had knocked him down more times than he could count. It was rather embarrassing. He had pressured his uncle to let him fight with his soldiers but insisted that school was better for him, well he was beginning to think that school was bogus.

He grabbed his sword and frowned, "again!" he demanded and Gabrielle saw Xena standing at the entrance in silence. She looked to her and received no response and held up her sword ready for Solan's attack.

"You first then," Gabrielle said as she was standing in a battle stance ready for him. He came at her more forcefully this time and their wooden swords clashed and she blocked every move. She could tell that he was getting angry and that was never a good sign as anger clouds the mind during battle. She remained calm but his blows were getting stronger and finally he kicked her onto the ground and she huffed getting up immediately. This boy doesn't know any technique whatsoever.

Solan pushed her onto the ground again and Gabrielle was getting irritated now. He wasn't playing fair anymore he was sparing dirty and she didn't like that. This was supposed to be for fun but he wasn't treating it like a game anymore. He was truly angry. "Perhaps we should take a break?" Gabrielle said putting her hand up as she was still on the ground. She had her sword still in hand and Solan held the sword in the air ready to strike her.

Xena saw that Solan wasn't going to give up and surely wasn't listening to Gabrielle at all. He thrust the sword back and she shouted, "Solan!"

He stopped without delay and his eyes turned to the conqueror woman who was staring at him looking rather irate. He realized that Gabrielle was still on the ground and it was clear that the fight was over. He threw the sword to the side and was suddenly feeling embarrassed. He grabbed his tunic and brushed past Xena.

Xena turned and watched Solan leave enraged and defeated. She knew that he wasn't going to stop but she didn't want Gabrielle to be hurt by accident.

Gabrielle stood up and walked over to Xena and straightened herself out. "It was just for fun," she said quietly. Xena turned to her and then she nodded. "I know," the conqueror woman admitted then left the entrance to find Solan.

Very strange behavior of that woman Gabrielle saw Xena follow the path that Solan took in her large palace. She figured that this would be a good time to go clean up since she was very filthy now. Her clothes were very dirty. She snatched her robe from the ground and went to the bathing quarters for awhile.

* * *

Xena found Solan sitting by himself near the entrance and she approached slowly then backed up. She was having a debate if she should go and speak with him or leave him be. She didn't really like his behavior that she witnessed earlier, but she didn't really have the authority to mother him. Making a rash decision she decided to approach him and she stood in front of him blocking his view of the terrace.

He looked up at the tall woman and blushed at the sight of her.

"May I sit?" she asked nicely.

Solan shrugged, "it's your house," he mumbled and scooted over on the stone bench. Xena sat down next to him looking out at the view on the terrace. It was rather peaceful just sitting here. It had been awhile since she had just sat down and glanced at the landscape before her. There were so many things she needed to do, so many political battles to deal with, yet she was sitting here next to her son. She turned to him and saw he was cleaning his sandals with a wet rag.

"You know, I'm sure with more training you'd make a very good soldier," Xena said with a smile and Solan looked to her and he smiled a bit.

"That was pretty embarrassing, if I must say," he grumbled and then threw the rag on the floor becoming angered with himself.

Xena paused and thought of what to say next. She never had to think of what to say before, usually she said whatever came to her mind, but that wasn't going to work here. "Everyone loses sometimes."

He scoffed and ran his hands through his short sandy blonde hair, "not you though."

She smiled, "I have lost many times," she admitted that hurt her pride a little when she said this.

He seemed surprised at this, "really?" he asked in a childish voice.

Xena wanted to laugh at his reaction but instead she looked at the view again. "If I won every time then I'd be a poor empress, don't you think so? Even the great rulers lose."

He could agree to this and he nodded his head still feeling a bit embarrassed at what happened earlier. "I just want to train like everyone else, but my uncle insists that school comes before war. So stupid."

She didn't want to hear that from him, in truth she didn't want him to fight or become anything remotely close to being a warrior like her. She set her hand on his shoulder and turned his body to face hers. She adjusted herself properly and stared directly into his eyes.

"Solan, school is a privilege. It's not a right. You should be grateful to be given an education."

He swayed his head back and forth considering her words. He had heard them many times before and he didn't really know how lucky he really was. He had seen peasants and knew they didn't have school but they also did real things like sew, farm and harvest crops. He just went to school, which seemed rather boring to him at this age. He sighed, "I suppose you're right. I'd love to come to Athens to study," hoping that she remembered what she had proposed to him during their last visit together.

She smiled, "I told you that you could come to Athens to study any time you'd like."

He nodded, "yeah but...my uncle," he groaned and folded his arms childishly.

Xena remembered that little hurdle they had last time they spoke. Then she recalled the agreement that was settled earlier about Egypt and she smiled thinking this would be a perfect opportunity to talk to Octavius about Solan staying in Athens to study.

"Perhaps that can be fixed," she said and she saw hope in his eyes and suddenly a grin came to her. She liked to see him excited and this too excited her as well. A sudden gust of wind hit them and Solan hissed and grabbed his cheek with his palm and Xena frowned. She turned his cheek and saw a gash on his cheek, probably from the sparing play with Gabrielle.

"How did you get that?" she asked as she still had a strong hold on his chin glaring at the hideous gash.

He felt a little awkward as she was very close to his face right now and he averted his gaze elsewhere and began looking around the room. "It's just a scratch."

"I'll have Racha tend to it," she stood up and then Solan stand up facing her.

He protested, "no really, it's fine. It will go heal on its own."

"It will get infected," she stated in a serious tone. She grabbed his wrist and went to look for her maid and found Racha tending to Octavius giving him wine. "Racha," she called out and the girl immediately ran over to her empress and bowed her head. "could you take care of _this_?" she gestured to the large gash on Solan's face. The girl nodded and went to fetch some warm towels and oils.

Xena saw that Octavius was enjoying himself with the wine and her servants were definitely keeping him busy. She wondered where Gabrielle was as she didn't see her leave the gardens. She pulled Solan into a private section of her bedroom that was sectioned off. She hardly used this side of her quarters but she figured that this was the best place. Xena had asked the guards earlier to invite some people over for evening. She needed Octavius to agree to her every whim and for that, she needed him to be drunk.

Solan sat down on a bed and looked at the ornate room. It was definitely more elaborate than his room back in Rome. He couldn't stop looking around and Racha came in with some towels and oils and herbs in a large bowl filled with warm water. Xena stood and looked at Solan who looked like a small boy as his eyes wandered the room.

He felt the hot towel graze his cheek and this brought him out of his daze and he winced. He pulled away and Racha took the towel off. "Don't worry it will only sting for a little bit," she reassured him. He nodded and let her do her job.

Solan smiled, "you have a nice house," he mentioned and saw Xena smile at his compliment.

* * *

Gabrielle had just finished putting on fresh clothes and she entered the main villa and saw a lot more people in here than before. There were actual guests in here. Xena has friends, she thought? She started to glance around the room and couldn't see Xena anywhere. She looked outside in hope that she'd be outside but she wasn't. She looked to the stairs and saw a candle light flickering in a room that was rather close to her bedroom. Feeling curious Gabrielle quietly sneaked up the stairs hoping that nobody would notice. She looked at the guests and figured that nobody would even notice obviously. She came closer to the room and heard Solan talking and saw a tall shadow and instantly knew Xena was in there with him. What is up with her and that boy? She crept closer to the door and peered inside.

Racha was cleaning Solan's face and she squinted her eyes to see what she was doing. It was rather dark in that room resembling every other bedroom in this large palace of hers. She finally saw the gash on Solan's cheek and hoped that she didn't do that then remembered that Solan did that to himself with the wooden sword by accident. He was really bad at sparing but realized that he wasn't a soldier, but a school boy. His hands were far too delicate to handle any weaponry. His hands were meant for extravagant quills and expensive parchment paper, probably made out of gold she thought. She laughed inwardly at this.

Finally Racha was finished dressing the wound and gathered the soiled cloths and water bowl to head back downstairs. She ran into Gabrielle on her way out and she bowed her head at her before she went down the stairs.

Gabrielle stepped inside the room and leaned against the doorway. Solan saw her and Xena turned to see her scribe standing in fresh new clothes and slightly damp hair.

He turned his wounded cheek towards Gabrielle, "what do you think, Gabrielle? Does it make me look regal?" he jested and Gabrielle smiled at the boy. His attitude certainly had changed for the better considering he was so angry earlier.

She saw Xena looking rather fidgety and became serious, "I was just wondering where you went. Do you know that you have guests downstairs?" she thumbed the exit with a confused expression.

She nodded, "Indeed I do, I invited them. It is a bit..." she clasped her hands together, "impromptu."

Gabrielle smiled and then clapped her hands together feeling a little awkward, "well...I'm going to be in my room," she turned to leave until she heard Xena stop her.

"Why don't you join in the festivities Gabrielle?"

Was this another one of her weird mind tricks or something? She eyed her curiously and saw Xena was definitely serious and not joking at all.

"Enjoy yourself, I will be down in a few moments," Xena added and with that Gabrielle exited and would await for her empress downstairs. Was she still considered her master? Even after everything that had happened between them? Gabrielle still remembered what the conversation did to Xena in the caravan in Persia. She was dumbfounded. She had found another weak spot of Xena. Children and guilt. Guilt was a weakness for Xena, although it was new. She'd have to remember this.

"Aren't you going to entertain your guests?" Solan asked wondering why she was still up here with him in this room.

Xena nodded, "of course, but I know I will not be missed. How's your wound now?" she asked feeling as if she were responsible for his gash.

Solan shrugged, "it doesn't hurt anymore. Thank you for that, I can't recall the last time I was hurt. Usually Octavia's maids help with me that sort of stuff."

She smiled and then silence passed between the two. She didn't know what else to say to him, she wanted to say so much to him. So far their conversations had been rather short and she didn't wish for him to leave. So she decided to ask a random question. She pulled up a chair and sat down finally able to relax for a bit. "Why did you come to Athens with Octavius?"

"Well," he began with a childish grin, "I've always wanted to see Athens. I dreamt of coming here since I was a small boy. It's a great city!"

A small boy, she thought. I could show you the city, she wished. She listened to him talk about the marvelous architecture of Athens and how inventive they were. He also mentioned that he studied intensively of Athens' great Navy and famous sea port in school. It was one of the most important ports alongside Cairo and Carthage.

She was so caught in a daze listening to him talk about the great city of Athens. He obviously had great desires to travel to the city and it showed. She listened intently and occasionally nodded her head showing that she was indeed listening.

* * *

Downstairs Gabrielle had found herself nursing a cup of wine and watching the guests enjoy themselves. It was no surprise that the people that Xena knew were not shy of alcohol or flirting that's for sure. She had some men come up to her but she would politely deny their conversations. She sat by herself in the middle of the room just enjoying watching these people make fools of themselves. Some were having heated political discussions while others were talking of sex and how many women they bedded in the last week. She wished she hadn't heard a lot of things tonight that's for sure. Where the hell is Xena? She hoped that she would come down here soon so there would be some order in this palace. And here she thought the Romans were absurd with their extravagant parties, well apparently the Greeks were no different.

She saw a man enter the room who seemed a bit out of place. He wasn't wearing anything fancy or of military attire. He was wearing a black cloak and wore black leathers and had a long feathered earring in one ear. He also wore many rings on his fingers. Gabrielle watched the man intensely as he slinked around the guests and picked up a glass of wine. His eyes surveyed the room glancing at all of the guests.

Gabrielle saw that the man was making no effort to talk to any guests but his eyes seemed to be looking for someone although who could that be? She felt a hand on her shoulder and was startled. She saw it was Xena and that boy standing next to her. Well, thank the gods, finally!

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Xena said as she looked at the full room of people. She sighed, "I send out invitations and it amazes me how many people actually show up to these ridiculous parties," she walked over to a few people with a fake smile and greeted them kindly.

Gabrielle stood up from her seat and watched Xena play the gracious host. This was a new side she hadn't seen of Xena and she didn't like it. It was so unlike her, although everything about the woman seemed to surprise her. She turned to Solan who seemed amazed at the amount of people in the palace.

"How's your gash?" she asked quietly.

Solan smiled, "fine I guess. Sorry about earlier, I was just heated about something else."

She smiled, "no need to apologize. You just need more practice." She patted his shoulder and he nodded in agreement.

Xena returned with a glass of wine in hand. She rolled her eyes and Gabrielle couldn't help but smile at Xena's discomfort. She obviously hated parties, so why throw an impromptu party then she wondered?

"These people are ludicrous." She gathered and handed a glass to Solan and he took gladly took it.

Gabrielle eyed the strange man lurking in the corner of the room people-watching. She tapped Xena's shoulder and Xena turned to her direction. She pointed at the man in the corner, "do you know him? He is making me nervous. He's been standing there for quite some time. He looks like an assassin of some sort."

Xena's eyes turned to the lonesome man and she frowned. What in Hades is he doing here? Who let him in? she saw that the man made eye contact with her and he smiled lifting his glass to her. She wasn't sure if she should go over there and tell him to leave or play it cool. In the back of her mind she thought of Solan and decided to play it cool.

"Yes, I know who that is. You need not worry about him, he is harmless," she sipped her wine nodding her head curtly at Borias who still had his eyes on her.

She sure knows some odd people, Gabrielle told herself.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: a bit slower than usual, but good enough to sit through lol. Enjoy :)**

_Chapter 12_

Xena watched Borias as he gawked at her guests within the large room. Nobody seemed to notice that he was there, it was almost as if he was a fly on the wall, just lurking about. She did not know his plans nor did she want to, although she was rather curious as to why he had magically appeared inside of her home especially tonight. How dare he show up here? I ought to go over there and give him the what for, but no I cannot. Her eyes turned to Solan and he seemed to be enjoying himself as he sipped his wine while he stood next to Gabrielle. Gabrielle, what an interesting character. The world seemed to drain of color when Gabrielle stepped into Xena's world. It was as if she were acting as her conscious, a really annoying conscious at that. Xena brushed her thoughts aside and focused her attention back at Borias, who was still leaning against the wall admiring the ridiculous impromptu party.

Quickening her decision to head over in his direction she slowly stepped away from Solan and Gabrielle, disappearing without a word. Slinking over to Borias she smiled at her guests as they passed her, one of the girls spilled some wine on Xena's gown and she frowned. The girl didn't notice as she kept walking with a rather slim irritating man, who was awfully loud. Too loud, Xena gathered.

_Stupid drunkards,_ she proceeded onward and brushed her fingers against her now-stained gown. Smiling she approached him standing very close to him. The aroma of lavender hit her nose the moment she stepped into his personal bubble. A rather musty lavender, _interesting choice of scent._

"Walk with me, will you?" Xena's grin tightened and she pulled his arm forcing him to come along.

_Very persuasive Xena,_ "this is a nice place you have here." The white marble columns, the extravagant Persian rugs, comfortable lounge couches really added a nice touch. It's what could have been between them, _if only you weren't so power hungry._

Xena's eyes darted side to side as she kept an eye on her guests. Hands immediately becoming damp with angst and perhaps apprehension? What was he doing here, he wasn't supposed to be here, although he was here, standing in front of her. The thoughts of their past together suddenly came rushing back, once again ruining her focus and attentiveness. How could she have all the people from her past in one room, all at once? Her head turned slightly over her shoulder to peer at her son, _their_ son. Soon she forgot that Borias was speaking to her. A slight shiver came to her as his voice traveled through the air. It was as if they were in their own room, completely blocking out the evident festivities surrounding them.

_It's not like you to be distracted,_ he frowned now stopping Xena in her tracks. His abrupt halt brought Xena back from her bemusement. He could see the frustration in her blue eyes. "Something on your mind?" He smiled.

Blinking rapidly she was trying to come up with a proper response, but thinking straight proved to be a difficult task as of late. "yes...why are you here?" _You're obviously not here to see me, or are you?_ Xena eyed him carefully, watching the fidgetiness of his fingers, his rings clinging against one another as he stared directly into her eyes _. I have you now, Borias_.

Borias's smile widened as he nervously let out a chuckle. Enjoying every moment of her beauty, he took it all in. Occasionally his eyes darted to the party behind her but it was easier said than done to steer clear of her icy glare, it always was. "I was just in the area, you know...passing by," his fingers grazed Xena's arm.

Shivers went up her spine as his fingers touched her arm. Hairs stood up on the back of her neck, suddenly reminiscing the past between them. Their last encounter had not been so subtle and certainly not a meeting of the minds. Xena looked to Borias and she noticed that her reaction was apparent and from the look in his eyes he seemed thrilled by this, which annoyed her. _I'm supposed to be the tease, not you._

Refocusing herself she began to walk ahead and he followed behind her. "Nobody just _passes_ _by_ in my empire, Borias, I don't care if you're the king of Spain," she smiled.

"Maybe you should invest in better border control," his voice inviting a challenge to the conqueror.

_Oh, you sly dog, you,_ "is that so?" her smile was enticing and she saw him fumble in his words as he tried to respond back to her. "No matter, just tell me why you're here. It is clear you're not here to enjoy my party. You have no business being in my empire, or do you?" her last words provoked a whole slew of trouble, which Xena was sure he was expecting, or perhaps not? _I'm not letting you off this easily_.

His eyes darted to Solan who had a grand smile and was being approached by many of the young girls at the party. The blushing of his cheeks was evident even glancing from afar. He saw Xena smile and turned her head to where his eyes were fixated on Solan. She turned around now with clear understanding, but yet, he knew she did not understand everything at hand, which only made this game of dancing around words more complicated and quite a bore.

"Have you come to play the savior, is that it?" Xena's icy glare stabbed Borias directly in his heart. He had seen this stare before, the consequences proved to be different every time. She was very unpredictable, but yet also predictable. This predictably of Xena allowed him to play at her emotions just as she had done to him countless times in the past.

"And what is your role in all of this?" he questioned, allowing his words to flow freely, not afraid of her retorts. "Parties, guests..." he smiled and touched her shoulder gently with the backside of his hand. His knuckles grazed her perfect unscarred skin that longed for caressing. _How long has it been since you've loved, Xena?_ "Wine," he saluted her and drank from his glass, obviously trying to get a rise out of her. He saw her eyebrows crease in irritation. "I saw you over there next to Solan. You were acting like a mother hen, yet...he knows nothing," his smile growing as her impatience arose.

Exasperated, Xena pulled him aside with a forceful grip. They were both now many feet away from the party guests and standing outside by themselves. The air was quiet, the birds chirping in the atrium and a gentle breeze blew by them. They stared at one another intently for a few long moments. Moments that seemed like an eternity until Xena broke the ice.

"Solan's visit was very..unexpected to say the least. And of course he knows nothing, at it should remain," she blinked, slightly blushing at her last remark. Remembering the conversation between Solan and herself when they were upstairs in that room Xena started to go off into one of her dazes completely ignoring her surroundings. His voice echoed in her mind as he spoke of Athens and what a great city it was, the marvelous Navy that it has and fabulous schools that students longed for. _Yes, what a great city, a city run by me. A tyrant. A murderer. Your mother to whom you shall never know, Solan._

Her eyes became clouded with tears. Borias rested a hand on her shoulder bringing her back from her recent memories. That's all they were, just memories. Suddenly, feeling breathless she let out a loud gasp of surprise as she was actually startled by Borias's touch. His hand slid down to her arm then her hand, he held her delicate hand in his rough hand. His thumb slowly caressing her knuckles as if to relieve tension, but that only made Xena angry.

Getting distracted like that was not a weakness, it was a curse. She had never felt so out of control of her emotions in her life. First this Gabrielle girl comes into her life, trying to preach her philosophical bullshit as Xena called it, then Solan pops into her life unexpectedly and repeatedly only to remind her of what a horrible person she really was. Now Borias randomly appears not once, but twice in her life. It had been a long fifteen years since they had seen each other but their meetings only brought out the worst in Xena and her haunting memories.

_Is she crying?_ He laughed at her sudden emotional state. Although he was not laughing to mock her, but out of shock. He wondered if he had ever seen her cry, cry tears of sadness, no, cry tears of joy, definitely not, to cry at all was not in Xena's nature.

She folded her arms and rubbed her hand underneath her nose, sniffing, trying to hide her wet eyes. She did not wish to sob in front of Borias of all people.

"I did not come here to upset you, Xena," he cleared his throat now feeling that his laughter had not only upset Xena, but to see her actually affected by something truly disturbed him.

"then _why_ did you come here? Do you like to torture me, is that it?" Xena was now becoming irate and angry. The longer he stood there the more anger seemed to boil within her.

This surprised Borias, now he was completely taken aback by her words. He took a gracious step back from her, puzzled at her behavior. "you're crazy, Xena. Something is wrong with you and I don't know what it is, but..." his words trailed off. He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. Rubbing his hand over his face he began massaging his chin as if in deep thought of what to say next.

_Oh very good Borias, very good._ "Just tell me why you're here and then I will leave you alive in one piece."

* * *

Gabrielle's eyes surveyed the room as the guests were starting to become a bit belligerent and a bit out of control. She looked over to the wall that the strange man was leaning against earlier and there was no sign of Xena or the man. She had realized that she left them awhile ago, but wishing to keep her distance and maintain a professional relationship with Xena she did not say a word or try to stop her from leaving. _What kind of relationship do we have anyway?_ Now becoming worried her eyes scanned the room to find Xena, but she was nowhere in sight and neither was that assassin looking man. Solan was now sitting with some girls who were gladly attending to his every whim, not that he minded the attention but he was rather shy around these women.

Her eyes darted to Solan, who was lounging comfortably between two ordinary, but pretty, young girls not much older than he. "I'm going to find Xena, are you going to be alright by yourself?" Gabrielle asked unsure if she should leave his side. Xena did not verbally tell her to keep an eye on him, but she figured that her words spoke more in action than by mouth.

Solan smiled, "You're not my babysitter, Gabrielle. Go do what you want, find the conqueror boss of yours," he leaned back letting out a sigh of contentment.

_Gluttony is a horrid sin, and I'm not a babysitter._ "Don't drink too much of that, okay?" Gabrielle revealed a nervous smile as she left his side. Walking about in the room she dodged a broken glass and spilt wine on the marble floor. _Hopefully someone will clean that_. She continued onward as her eyes looked around to find Xena and she was noticing that the guests were definitely enjoying themselves and the host was missing in action. Immediately she saw Octavius, not in his right mind, _Xena, what are you doing?_

Suddenly she heard two people talking or rather bickering outside in the atrium. Gabrielle slowed her pace and clung to the wall allowing her presence to remain unknown. Blocking out the background noise of the blasphemous acts behind her, she was able to channel the faint voices. She heard Xena and a male voice combating her in an equally firm but hushed tone. Gabrielle didn't want to barge in as the conversation appeared to be more private than Xena's normal conversations. If it wasn't private she'd gladly have it inside of the house, but then again Gabrielle was just figuring out Xena and she was a tough nut to crack. She always had something new to bring to the table.

Creeping up as close as she could Gabrielle listened to the conversation. _Should I be doing this?_ Xena's voice became louder as it appeared she was upset about something or upset with someone. _This is definitely an invasion of privacy, Gabrielle._ She was pacing back and forth mentally deciding if she should retreat or listen. She felt like a little girl listening to two parents arguing and she was supposed to be in her room not eavesdropping like a good little girl.

* * *

"He's my son too, you know," Borias said and Xena folded her arms in frustration.

She sighed, "I'm aware, I was there for his conception," her sarcastic tone was not helping the situation at all. She noticed Borias becoming frustrated with her mannerisms and this neither pleased her or displeased her. "How do you know that Octavius wants a war with Cleopatra?" _He knows far too much and how come I am just finding this out a few days ago?_

He scoffed, "I live in Rome Xena, things...get around," he cleared his throat. _Is she really this dense?_

Xena tapped her foot rapidly trying to figure out what was happening here. This explanation of Borias coming to her home in Athens did not prove a mere coincidence that Octavius was here at the same time. Something was wrong and something was going to happen. But there is a small question at hand, how did Solan come into this mixture of chaos?

"so," she began quietly, "what is this sudden curiosity you have with Solan and why come all the way from Rome to see him?" _Or to see me?_

Borias shook his head, "Xena I don't think you understand. Octavius wants Solan to be his potential successor." Now there was an explosion he was waiting for but all he saw was Xena's stone cold face and unreadable expression which only made the situation heighten.

_I'm going to kill Octavius._ "absolutely not, he cannot be...be," she kicked a vase filled with a large eucalyptus plant and knocked it over. The vase shattered in many pieces treating it as if it was Octavius himself. "He cannot be an emperor of... _Rome_ ," she spat in disgust at this. The thought of it made her sick to her stomach.

He slightly chuckled at her demise and put his hands in the air with his glass, "and what are you going to do about it? Save the day? Come on Xena," he shook his head.

"you think this is funny?" Xena came within inches of Borias's face and he swallowed a large sum of wine before pushing her back gently with his hand. She grabbed his wrist tightly and pressed her thumb into the soft spot of his wrist. Borias winced as the pain traveled up his arm creating a numbing effect. Xena smiled at his pain, _yes you like that don't you?_

"you know what? This is all your fault, Borias! You gave Solan away to the Romans and now...now he _is_ a Roman!" she gritted her teeth as she became angrier as she spoke to him. Borias grabbed Xena's wrist with his opposite arm. His grip remained firm as did hers. They danced around who had the stronger hold but Borias had a disadvantage as Xena knew every pressure point in the human body.

Borias began to sweat as Xena did not let up on her grip and the numbness in his arm was beginning to travel to his collar bone and right side of his neck. "I didn't have a choice, I thought we've been through this already," he managed to say in a stressed tone.

He groaned and finally slithered his way out of her hold by pushing her aside and she fumbled backwards in shock that he even touched her in such a way. He rolled his shoulder trying to get rid of the numbness and stretched his fingers. "We both know he couldn't stay with you. You can't undo the past Xena. What would have happened if you raised him, eh?" he shook his head. "He would've been _just like you_."

His words cut into Xena's skin like a knife. She felt like she had been stabbed not once but two or maybe three times tonight. First Octavius arrives and offers her a deal regarding Antony and his whore of a woman, Queen Cleopatra then Solan arrives unexpectedly. Then Borias and now he just back handedly insulted her. She stood staring at him off in deep thought completely unaware that he was scowling at her. Xena was not going to let her emotions rev her up anymore, not this evening. She remained calm and was brought back from her deep inner thoughts and blinked at Borias.

She stated coldly, "are we finished here?"

Borias smiled and sneered, "I don't know, are we?" _this woman is going to be the death of me._

Xena didn't wait for a reply and she exited the atrium retreating back into the villa where all her guests were ransacking the place. She didn't even take notice of them, they were mere trinkets or distractions in her life. This was all a facade, she was not known for parties, that was a Roman quality. _I'm a Thracian_.

As she entered the room she ran into Gabrielle who was off hiding behind a wall close to the atrium and she looked to Borias who was still readjusting his arm and then back to Gabrielle. "How much of that did you hear?" she questioned in a soft menacing tone. She saw Gabrielle's eyes widen with actual fear. Something that she longed for. She almost wanted to smile at the girl's fearful state, but she was too livid.

_Enough, I know enough._ Gabrielle didn't feel like talking with Xena about this right now. She knew that she should have retreated when she heard the bickering but her curiosity got the best of her.

"I see," Xena nudged the inside of her cheek with her tongue and nodded her head.

"I ought to kill you for what you know. You know too much about me." She smiled, "you know," she laughed, " _suddenly_ you appear as if it is some kind of sick game the gods are torturing me with. Oh and then you try to consult me about my past as if you know every little thing about me," she came closer to Gabrielle and watched as the blonde backed up slowly now against the wall. She brought her hand to Gabrielle's shoulder and her other hand against the wall trapping her within inches of her body and face. "You're about this close," she made a hand gesture indicating she meant 'a little bit' and smiled, "to dying, my dear."

Gabrielle gulped and stared directly into Xena's eyes. "I won't tell anybody about... _that_ ," she indicated the conversation between her and Borias earlier.

"Oh I'll make sure of that," Xena smiled and then pulled away from Gabrielle. She grabbed her wrist and walked briskly towards Octavius who was enjoying the women around him and his wine. "Octavius," she smiled.

The drunken emperor grinned at the conqueror, "ah Xena...where have you been? You're missing the party." He sipped more of his wine.

Xena nodded, "I've been around," she eyed Gabrielle. "How would you like some entertainment? Courtesy of me." She pushed Gabrielle towards the emperor. The blonde looked back to her with wide eyes and mouth agape. _That_ _will teach you to eavesdrop, little one._

Octavius laughed as Gabrielle stood there looking rather shy and her cheeks filled red. "You're _scribe_ is going to entertain me? What is she going to do, recite poetry?" he continued to laugh along with the girls next to him.

Xena smiled, "she's a woman of many skills, dancing perhaps?" she eyed Gabrielle who was now becoming irritated. She was tempted to roll her eyes but she suddenly realized that all eyes were on her now.

_Really, dancing?_ "Dance for me then, scribe," Octavius lifted his glass as the room quieted down.

"Yes go on dance for him Gabrielle. I'm sure we'd love to see," Xena sat down and Racha handed her a glass of wine which she gladly took, although she did not drink from it, as she too wanted to be entertained. _Let us see what you can do, Gabrielle._

Borias entered the villa and pulled his hood over his head carefully leaving the area. He eyed Xena who definitely took notice of him leaving. She neither smiled nor frowned at his leave of absence. His eyes then went to Solan who was sitting with two young women who seemed enthralled to be sitting next to him. They grabbed his attention or perhaps it was he who grabbed theirs. He sauntered over and walked passed him. The teen didn't notice him walk by, but he hadn't been able to get close to him, not like Xena nor would he ever but he figured that Xena might come after him later so he'd better leave. He gave her some potent information and that's all he came here for. Perhaps he felt guilty for giving their son to the Romans, but what was he to do? He was without Xena, without a permenant home. Solan needed a home and he had one, a very good one. Borias was sure that Xena would hate him to his grave, but he didn't care about that. It was almost as if this was his redeeming deed to repay Xena for what he had done. _It's finished now, Xena_. He left the villa and exited the palace passing the guards on his way out to retreat back to Rome. Although since he told Xena of Octavius's plans he was soon to find a new home, somewhere far from Rome and somewhere far from Xena _and_ Solan.

Xena allowed her musicians to guide Gabrielle and they played slow but sensual music. One man played the oud, while the others played two types of flutes from the land of the Arabs. Gabrielle stripped herself of her first layer of clothing and unlaced her sandals off of her feet. She watched as Gabrielle gently swayed her hips to the flow of the music. Her eyes traveled to Octavius who was enjoying her sudden entertainment. Xena was full of surprises tonight.

Gabrielle bent over backward as her knees were firmly planted on the floor now. She eyed Xena and even staring at her upside down proved to be just as frightening as right side up. Her life was yet saved again, for now, she thought. She leaned straight up again and smiled at the Roman emperor coming closer to him slowly enticing him with her fingers trailing his bare legs. She felt his reaction from her sensual touch and she didn't know whether to feel disgusted or enthralled that he was at least mildly entertained. She looked back at Xena who had a grand smile and watched her every move.

Deciding to make a gutsy move Gabrielle meandered over towards Xena and slowly pranced around her, circling her like the 'dancer' she suddenly was. Xena eyed the woman and became instantly mystified at what she was doing. _Very interesting, Gabrielle, very interesting_. Gabrielle grazed her fingertips along Xena's upper arm and saw the conqueror woman not frown but she lost her smile. Her eyes were lost in her dance. Her seductiveness enticed Xena allowing her body to respond in a way that she had not felt in a long time. Perhaps never. It was not a sexual feeling but envious. She was suddenly jealous that Gabrielle focused her attention on Octavius and not her. Xena was feeling angry at herself for allowing her mind to betray her once again. Moments earlier she hated Gabrielle for listening to her conversation, but she couldn't hate her after all. For the short time she knew Gabrielle, which had been a few weeks now, she felt like she knew her for most of her life.

The music stopped as Gabrielle quit dancing and was breathing heavily as she stood in the middle of the room. Everyone clapped and she smiled as everyone seemed to enjoy her little dance. She didn't think she would be good, but apparently she was good enough to shock Xena. Her eyes turned towards the raven haired empress and she still was a bit awe struck although she tried to hide it graciously.

Octavius clapped slowly and smiled, "Fabulous. Your scribe has many skills, Xena," he sipped more of his wine.

Xena tapped her fingers against her knee and stared at Gabrielle who was staring directly back at her. "Indeed she does," she said icily.

* * *

After a few hours the night carried on for quite some time and some guests left the palace while others were passed out inside the villa, on the floor, the couches and chairs. Some of them passed out leaning against the fountain close to the atrium as well. Gabrielle excused herself to go get changed and maybe get some sleep. Although she felt sleep would not come to her especially after what happened. Even after the dance Xena kept a close eye on her the rest of the evening. She made sure not to get too close to her during the remainder of the party.

Xena was still wide awake and she had a lot to do today, the sun would be rising in a few hours and she did not desire sleep. She was still upset about the earlier conversation with Borias and that wretched Gabrielle. She looked around the room as she stepped over some of the slumbering guests. She found Solan passed out in a large chair with the empty wine glass still in his hand. She took the glass out of his hand and set it on a table. She called over one of the guards and he came as quickly as possible. "take him to the room next to mine." He nodded and lifted the boy up in his arms effortlessly. He carried Solan up the stairs and Xena followed behind eager to change out of this wine stained gown to lay down for awhile. Sleep was not her friend as of late and this time would be no different.

The guard went into the according room and set Solan down on the bed. He was still passed out and did not even stir at all. He bowed to Xena then left the room to go back to his post. She came close to him and sat on the bed. Her hand reached for his cheek but she pulled it away, as if his face were forbidden to touch. His mouth was slightly ajar and he breathed in slowly and exhaled equally. Xena took the blanket at the foot of the bed and covered him with it and left the room closing the door behind her.

The sun rose bright and early and Xena was laying in her large bed, alone and awake. She had not slept but only stared at the ceiling. Wishing to no longer stay in bed she got up and wrapped her robe around her body waltzing over to her pet spider, Zoe. She opened the cage and allowed the spider to crawl onto her hand and travel up her arm. Zoe really liked Xena and she wondered if Zoe was her only friend these days. A spider couldn't talk back to her that was for sure. She stared out at the empty fields surrounding her palace. She was far from the common people, but today she wanted to go out into the nearby villages to see what conditions they lived in. she was rather curious. She put Zoe back inside of her cage and began dressing herself not even waiting for Racha to come in to help her.

As soon as she was finished dressing herself in a more subtle attire. She didn't want to seem imposing to her people so she dressed like them, wearing a dress and cloak clasped around her neck. She opened the door to the room where Solan was and she looked inside. She saw Solan was still sleeping and she closed the door then locked it and slid the key into her cloak's pocket.

She came down the stairs and saw Octavius was still sleeping, not a surprise. She told her guards to make sure that Octavius was not to leave until she returned from some business. Xena trailed down long hallways until she found herself standing outside of Gabrielle's room. Her fist came to rap on the door but she suddenly lowered her hand. _Guilt is a terrible thing, Xena_. Finally getting up the nerve she didn't even knock but opened the door and saw Gabrielle was not asleep but writing at her desk on a parchment.

Gabrielle turned around and saw Xena standing in the doorway with a strange expression on her face. Xena pulled the hood of the cloak over her head, covering two thirds of her face. "You're coming with me." This was not a suggestion but an order. Gabrielle grabbed her cloak and quickly put on her boots and followed Xena out of the palace. She mounted her black horse and Gabrielle did not have a horse so she walked alongside Xena. She didn't dare ask Xena where they were going, but she was sure that she hadn't forgotten about last night. _What a night that was._

* * *

Half a candle mark later Xena looked down to Gabrielle who was walking by her horse trying not to make eye contact with her. She had her arms folded and their journey together was awkward and silent most of the way. "Do you know where we're going?" she asked.

Gabrielle looked up to Xena and shook her head.

"We're going to the villages nearby. I promised myself to see to this 'problem' you have brought up many times," she stressed her last words as if trying to scare Gabrielle into speaking back to her but alas the blonde scribe said nothing. She continued on walking and Xena frowned _. Do I actually miss her annoying voice talking back to me?_

_So we're not going to discuss what happened last night?_ Gabrielle's initial thoughts were to talk about it, but she didn't want to disrupt the quietness. She kicked a few rocks in her path with her boot as she walked beside Xena's black horse. She admired Xena for being strong willed, but she was a mess. Her life was not perfect, although hers wasn't either. Xena was right, she knew too much about her but there were a lot of missing gaps. Gaps that just didn't make sense. Last night Gabrielle found out that Solan was Xena's son and this seemed to be off the radar as Xena completely ignored talking about it or even bringing it up. Gabrielle didn't want to be the one to bring it up, she had done enough already. She looked up to Xena who was staring at the trail ahead. She was sure that Xena noticed this, but at this point she didn't really care. As she said to herself many times before, _I should be dead._

A few minutes later Xena abruptly stopped and dismounted her horse and tied the reins to a large tree trunk. She eyed Gabrielle who looked very confused. "We walk the rest of the way," the blonde still looked bewildered at her odd behavior towards her. Xena understood this but she didn't want to talk about Solan or Borias or Octavius. She just wanted to do this, to prove to herself that she wasn't as horrible as Gabrielle said she was. "It looks less suspicious," she concluded.

Gabrielle wasn't following Xena's plan but she simply went along with her. She walked beside her at a very generous distance. There was a large gap between them and Xena looked over at the silent scribe and then forward once more.

"I know what you're thinking Aristotle," Xena teased. "We aren't going to discuss last night. It is in the past." This was the end of that thought, she hoped.

Gabrielle said nothing and continued walking.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Xena asked. _Please, say something_.

"I'd rather not, if you don't mind," Gabrielle said in a mumble, barely audible. She wasn't feeling very talkative right now.

Xena understood Gabrielle's reaction but in reality it was her who should be silent and quiet not Gabrielle. It was her life that was ousted to a stranger, not Gabrielle's.

* * *

Finally they walked into the closest village. It had taken most of the morning to reach here as Xena's palace was quite far from regular civilization. She knew that these people had no idea what she looked like and certainly wouldn't especially since she wasn't dressed in battle armor or fancy corsets donned with jewels and gorgeous capes and draperies on her stallion. No, she was walking in the village like a normal person with Gabrielle at her side. Xena's eyes surveyed the area and saw many small children no older than ten summers, some younger. Very few children had bright full cheeks, none of the children were fat, but rather thin.

Gabrielle ran her fingers through her short locks and looked at the children. A young girl played with her doll in the sand, completely content with her life. She wasn't dressed extravagantly, not like Xena or herself in recent times. She wondered what Xena was trying to gain from this. Was she trying to prove to herself that she was indeed a good person deep down or perhaps throw herself a pity party? No Xena wasn't know for pity, she barely showed mercy.

Xena walked through the sandy street and passed by many children and came across a young teenage girl with her young brother. They were selling fruits and had bright smiles on their faces. Xena pulled the hood off her head and looked at the fruit. _Well at least the crops did not parish_. She stopped at their fruit stand and picked up a pomegranate examining the fruit.

The young girl smiled at her, "we have more fruit in the back if you want," she said politely.

Xena looked at the girl, "no ah, this is fine. How much is this?"

The boy spoke up this time, "five dinars."

Her eyes widened and she looked at the fruit again. _Is there gold inside of this_? "Five dinars? Are you out of your mind?" her voice rose and the children's eyes widened at the tall woman's sudden irate reaction.

Gabrielle saw that Xena was giving the young children a hard time and she put her hand on top of Xena's which still held the pomegranate. She slowly lowered the fruit back onto the fruit stand. "Sorry, we're not from here," she eyed Xena and suddenly the empress was self aware of her irrational behavior. "Why is this fruit so expensive?" Gabrielle asked in a kind voice stepping in front of Xena.

"The conqueror raised prices of fruits and vegetables. We cannot make enough money to harvest our own so we..." the girl was hesitant to speak as Xena was glaring at her.

Gabrielle turned around and frowned at Xena. She looked into the girl's eyes and smiled "pay no attention to her, she's having a bad day. Go on," she prompted the girl.

The girl sighed and continued, "we have to ship our fruits and vegetables from cities outside of Athens."

"I see," Gabrielle nodded and turned to Xena who had her arms folded and looked enraged at this. She handed the girl the five dinars she originally asked for and then some. She took the pomegranate and smiled leaving the fruit stand. She continued to walk with Xena along the poor-stricken street.

"Five dinars for a piece of fruit? That's ridiculous." Xena scoffed.

Gabrielle used a knife that was in her boot and sliced open the pomegranate and handed one half to Xena while she kept the other half. Xena looked at the fruit and then took it. All she could think about was the amount Gabrielle paid for an adequate piece of fruit. It wasn't even that good by the look of the seeds.

They passed by a poorer side of the village and a small boy with what appeared to be his little sister sitting in the street playing in the sand, drawing figures with a long narrow stick. Xena looked at the children and they seemed content with playing in the sand. Her eyes went to the fruit in her hand and she knelt down next to the children. Their eyes met hers and instantly became afraid of her, she seemed to have that effect on people. Gabrielle stopped and looked at Xena who was now at eye level with those kids. She smiled and folded her arms marveling at this sight.

Xena reached her hand out and the children backed away slowly unsure of what she was going to do. She handed them her half of the pomegranate. "I'm not going to hurt you," she pushed the fruit towards them but they just stared at her. "Take it," she said gently. The small brunette girl took the pomegranate apprehensively. The girl dug out the seeds with her tiny hands and stuffed them in her mouth, revealing an innocent smile. An innocent smile enough to make Xena smile in return. The young boy also grinned at the strange woman before him. She stood up and began to walk away. Gabrielle handed the children her half of the fruit and skipped along to catch up with Xena.

"That was nice of you," Gabrielle finally spoke to her.

Xena didn't say a word back as she had nothing to say. The longer they walked the more children she saw, with no parents around and they looked starving much like the children she gave the pomegranate to. The sad part was, this was all her fault. _All my fault_. They came to a halt when they arrived in the square of the village. She remembered this place, she built this village. A giant statue of an owl was in the middle which represented the Goddess Athena and her all mighty wisdom. The owl had been basically destroyed and the fountain surrounding it no longer in use and moss grew on the stone owl. Xena approached the statue touching it with her hands, it had been so long since she had shown her face in this village. Apparently all that had been here had been long gone, dead.

Gabrielle looked at the statue of the owl, it must have been over ten feet tall and once represented freedom and peace now represented death and destruction by Xena's hand.

_All of the pomegranates in the world couldn't fix this problem._ Xena turned and saw an older woman, finally an adult around here. She was cleaning her villa and watering her plants. She slowly approached the elderly woman with caution.

The woman saw Xena approaching her. Her clothes looked new and her face perfect, her skin unblemished and hair shiny glimmering in the sunlight. She was obviously not from here, perhaps a noble of some sort. The woman shook her head and she didn't wish to talk to any noble women right now. "What do you want?" she asked Xena and continued watering her plants.

Xena twiddled her thumbs and it was she who was afraid now. "What happened here...in this village?"

The woman looked at Xena as if she were crazy or gone mad. She started laughing, "you're really not from here are you?" her laughter came to a halt.

"Please," she pleaded, "I need to know." Xena's eyes were sincere and the woman sighed and set the water vase on the ground and rubbed her wet hands on her dress.

"the conqueror stopped our businesses. We used to have great craftsmen in this village. They made swords, any kind of weaponry you could dream of," she smiled off in the distance as the memories came flowing back to her. She sighed, "once we didn't have enough money to fund our businesses, they shut down. Most of the men left for Rome and Macedonia. Most of us are unable to leave, the children have nowhere to go. Sometimes their families send money to them, if they have families," she scoffed.

Xena wanted to feel angry but she didn't she felt sad for this woman, for these people especially the children. Children with no families. Oh it sounded so familiar to her. "You mean this conqueror...she is the cause of all this?" she gestured to the surrounding area.

The woman nodded, "that Thracian witch also taxes us and we are unable to pay them. So," she sighed, "well you know what happens to those who don't pay taxes."

Xena knew exactly what happened. She signed many papers for her men to punish and execute those who did not follow her orders. She never paid close attention to the crimes of her people. "Does this conqueror woman execute children as well?"

The woman eyed the raven haired beauty and laughed, "of course. Her heart is as black as Tartarus." She soon went back to watering her plants.

Gabrielle stood behind Xena a few feet away and heard everything. She felt bad for Xena, but at the same time she thought that she may have needed this dose of reality. Xena turned around and then walked away passing Gabrielle.

_I do murder children._ She wished to leave this place as the stench was enough to make her sick. It was bad enough that children died because of her, and villages destroyed because of her lack of kindness, but to execute those who had no money to spare? _No, this cannot go on, not anymore_.

"Gabrielle I want to leave this place," Xena said and Gabrielle followed beside her as they quickly exited the village.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: this chapter is shorter than the others, but you will soon find out why at the end. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 13_

Solan woke up with a roaring headache and looked around the room and saw he was in the exact same room he was in yesterday when he was wounded. Sitting up in the large bed his eyes burned from the bright sunlight that was beaming in through the sheer curtains. He shielded his eyes but was not up to walking over there to shut the curtains closed as his head was hurting immensely. Sighing he leaned back in the bed and saw a large glass of water on the bedside table. Gladly taking the water he immediately chugged the glass and let out a very audible exhale of relief as he set the empty glass back down on the table. How did I get here? Solan swung his legs over to the side of the bed and groaned holding his head. He felt like he had a brick inside of his skull and making sudden abrupt movements was not helping. _Too much wine, never again_.

Slowly he rose from the bed and walked over to the door. Grabbing hold of the ornate diamond-shaped knob he realized the door was locked. Furrowing his eyebrows he tried again and shook the door knob but now he definitely knew it was locked. Huffing he paced back and forth trying to figure out why this was happening to him. Rubbing the back of his neck he thought of many possibilities. Would Octavius lock him in here? _Was this my punishment for too much wine?_ He shook his head as that possibility was out of the question. Suddenly something odd came to his mind, _did the conqueror lock me in here?_

He decided not to worry about it too much so he sat back down on the bed trying to regain his physical strength from the partying last night. A few minutes later of sulking he heard a key in the door and his eyes shot open looking at the diamond shaped knob turn slightly to the left and the door creaked open. Solan strained his neck to see who it was and he saw a slender hand slowly push open the door to reveal the conqueror woman standing there holding a large key in her hand. This perplexed him.

"You locked me in here?" Solan questioned a bit confused yet not angry.

Xena slipped the key into her cloak as she was still dressed in her peasant-like attire from her little excursion this morning. It was now early afternoon and she didn't think Solan would be awake, she wanted to check on him, but now that he was it was a bit awkward, especially since she locked him in this room.

 _I didn't want you to leave._ "I... didn't think you'd be awake," Xena said with a small embarrassed smile. Completely ignoring the fact that she just locked her son in her palace.

Solan eyed her carefully and then shrugged his shoulders not bothered by this whatsoever. "Why are you dressed like that, if you don't mind me asking?"

She looked down at her clothes and realized that she was not in usual dress that Solan had normally seen her in. No, she looked simple, not noble and certainly not like a conqueror.

Xena smiled trying to figure out what she could say to Solan, but she simply smiled softly and brushed her hands over her dress nervously. "I..had some business to attend to." Was the best excuse she could come up with at the moment.

He smiled at this. _Strange attire for an empress, I'd say._

Gabrielle touched Xena's arm and the conqueror slightly turned to see a rather worrisome Gabrielle standing feet below her.

"Octavius is awake," she whispered to Xena.

Xena nodded and Gabrielle saw Solan sitting on the bed. She smiled at him and he returned the smile generously. With that she took her leave to the villa downstairs.

The conqueror turned her attention to her son who was still sitting on the bed, rubbing his temples. She smirked, "wine can be very dangerous. It's so sweet yet...so deadly."

 _Yes deadly was the right word here._ He nodded his head and slipped on his shoes to head downstairs. He was sure that his uncle would want to leave immediately as they had definitely overstayed their welcome.

Xena followed Solan after she closed the door. She enjoyed seeing him a little bit out of his element, although she didn't really like that he was so susceptible to drinking heaps of wine in one sitting. It only reminded her of herself and poor actions she took when she drank too much wine. She didn't touch any wine last night, although she held glasses filled with it, she did not take a sip, making sure she was absolutely sober around the Roman emperor and her guests, as well as her _unexpected_ guest.

Solan met with Octavius who was now standing at the entrance of the villa ready to go. He did not really look presentable and his eyes were red and tired from last night. Solan could feel his pain as he wasn't feeling so well himself.

Octavius fixed his attire and faced Xena who was dressed very oddly, more like a peasant woman than an empress, that was interesting, he noted. "Well Xena, thank you for having us for your...festivities. they are sure to be the talk of Athens I'm sure."

Xena smiled nodding curtly, "nothing gets beyond these walls, Octavius." _I assure you that_.

He looked thankful for that. It was the least she could do was to keep that party secret. He was sure that Xena wouldn't allow her guests to be ousted to the public as he had a reputation to uphold. Come to think of it, he didn't really see Xena at the party last night until she asked Gabrielle to entertain him. That was about the only thing he remembered from last night. That was truly interesting.

"I will be leaving for Egypt very soon, I will tell Cleopatra that you have given me permission to enter Egypt," Octavius eyed the conqueror then saw Gabrielle standing beside the tall woman.

Xena smiled and held her hand out. Gabrielle placed a scroll in Xena's hand with her special seal on it, she gracefully handed it over to the Roman emperor. He looked surprised but took the mysterious scroll.

"I had the deal in writing this morning, just to make sure...your end of the deal is kept as is mine," she winked.

He nodded and gave the scroll to one of his guards. "Thank you again...I'm sure we'll meet again," he kissed Xena's hand and she almost grimaced at this but remained composed. He turned to leave and Solan smiled weakly at the conqueror. He bowed slightly at Xena and kissed her hand goodbye.

He did not let go of her hand and Xena felt his warm fingers against her cold hand, she felt a bit strange that her own son was treating her the same way as Octavius. He had not said goodbye to her in this way before. Solan smiled and whispered, "I still want to come and study in Athens." A grand smile was on his face as he left the villa quickly following his uncle to the horses outside.

Xena looked at them leave her home and felt Gabrielle's eyes staring at her from behind. She knew this woman was going to try and be intimate with her and she didn't want to have any part of it at the moment. She watched as Solan and Octavius mounted their horses and trotted off beyond the large iron gates.

Turning on her heel she left and quickly retreated to her office, not even bothering to change out of her peasant-like clothing. Racha caught up with her and offered some water, Xena took the glass and downed the liquid. Gabrielle huffed and ran after Xena, touching her arm trying to slow her down but that didn't work.

"So, are we going to talk about..you know? You can't just leave me in the dark anymore, Xena," she was not nervous about approaching Xena anymore.

Xena halted and turned to Gabrielle who nearly ran into her. "We're not going to discuss this Gabrielle."

The blonde frowned, "but as you said I know too much, don't you want to talk about it? not even a little bit?" she smiled innocently.

"Get off it, Gabrielle," she continued to her office and waved at her guards to open the doors. She stepped into her office throwing the cloak on a nearby chair. Gabrielle followed her in and the guards almost closed the doors on her.

Xena sat at her desk and didn't even bother looking up to Gabrielle who was very well staring at her intently with her arms folded. _Of course you would follow me in here_. "I am very busy right now Gabrielle."

 _I'm not going to give up that easily, Xena!_ She tongued her cheek in displeasure at Xena's evasiveness about the subject at hand. She really wanted to talk about this but it seem that it would have to wait. "Are you planning to alert Marc Antony and Phraates that Octavius is going to Egypt?" she asked a random question that she hoped Xena would answer, since she avoided the other questions.

Xena dipped the quill into the ink pad and kept writing. She didn't need Gabrielle for this, no she needed to come up with a new plan. She needed to revise her entire empire's currency and that called for some extreme concentration. She couldn't shake the feelings that boiled inside of her when she met those children in that village earlier. She didn't want to see any more people suffer because they were living in poverty. Xena knew that she needed to rethink her entire regime for the future and she sure couldn't do it with Gabrielle breathing down her neck about Solan. She hoped that Gabrielle didn't hear that last bit that Borias said about Solan becoming Octavius's successor. The more she thought of it, the more furious she became so she decided to put that in the back of her mind, for now.

"Now why would I do that?" Xena answered after a silent moment passed.

Gabrielle huffed and started pacing back and forth in Xena's office. She couldn't understand this woman at all, the more she spoke to her the more of a mystery she was to her. Xena was not likeable that's for sure but Gabrielle saw that there must be a light side to Xena, she saw it in the village with those kids today. Deep down she was not as evil as everyone believes her to be. Gabrielle stared at the conqueror as she was writing rapidly on the parchment. She squinted her eyes trying to see what she was writing but Xena's handwriting was almost illegible as her words often connected too often and made the message unclear. She was unable to make out what she was writing and sighed. _Isn't that supposed to be my job?_

"What are you writing there? Looks like you need a scribe," she teased knowingly.

Xena's eyes traveled upward to look at the smug smile on Gabrielle's face. "Are you making fun of my handwriting, Gabrielle?" she smiled crookedly, giving a tease back at the blonde.

Gabrielle folded her arms and shook her head, "of course not. I mean...I could write for you. I'm a very skilled scribe you know."

Xena smiled and continued writing on her parchment, "someone told me you were one of the best," she glanced up and smirked, "are you not?"

"You could say that," Gabrielle felt a warm sensation run through her body. Although she had lost her sense of fear for the conqueror she was definitely not her friend, at least not yet. But it was apparent that Xena had become more comfortable around her and this she really liked. She wondered how many people had seen this side of Xena, she had a very beautiful smile, a warm smile, just like today in the village. She showed acts of kindness that would be taboo to the average civilian if anyone knew it was Xena. She thought their first instinct would be to immediately not believe it were Xena, but an imposter instead.

Xena slammed the quill on the desk and lifted the parchment gently blowing on the wet ink. She smiled as she looked over one of her new creeds, this would be the new beginning of the many changes she was going to make in her empire.

She eyed Gabrielle then stood up and handed the parchment to Gabrielle, "I don't have a vizir, but...I want you to look this over," this was not a suggestion but an order.

Gabrielle took the parchment carefully and was very cautious to not touch the still-wet ink on the fabric. She squinted her eyes once again trying to decipher through Xena's handwriting. _With a bit more practice, you could write beautifully._ As she read the scroll she realized that she wasn't really in the right place to question Xena's new regime but she really wanted to. She saw Xena staring at her intently. Inwardly she wanted to come out and say, what in Hades in this? But this was one of the times she feared the conqueror's harsh response if she disagreed with her. Gabrielle wasn't sure if Xena wanted to hear her opinions or just simply read and agree with her.

Xena put her legs on her desk and her hands gently laced in her lap as she awaited Gabrielle to finish. She saw the blonde's eyes widen half way through the scroll and this disturbed her. She frowned at Gabrielle's lack of response, only to receive strange eye movements and changes the more she read.

"Is there something wrong with my new changes?" Xena asked in a less menacing voice, but a rather concerned voice.

 _Where do I even start?_ "Well," she began but she honestly didn't want to continue.

Her lack of speech really bothered Xena and she put her feet back on the floor now intently staring at Gabrielle. "Well, what? What's wrong with it? am I not being fair?"

 _I don't know if fair is the right word._ "For one Xena," she sighed heavily, "I think it's great that you have decided to cut the taxes in half for the coming year, but your people still can't pay them...due to um, lack of jobs?" Gabrielle lamely stated.

Xena rolled her eyes, "I can't do _everything_ for those commoners. I can cut their taxes in half, but I am supposed to hand them jobs as well?"

Gabrielle understood that Xena was not a Roman and did not operate on the same level as them when it came to politics. She gathered that Xena never cared for politics at all or her people. "Maybe you should stop calling them commoners. They're Athenians, they're your people, not animals."

 _She does have a point, but they're still beneath me._ "Fair enough, since we're all about fairness here," she raised an eyebrow and looked to the ceiling in thought. This posed a deeper problem than she thought. Her people weren't going to be happy if they were jobless but how could she generate jobs to children and women if men were not even in the villages?

Gabrielle set the parchment in her lap as she didn't want to strain her eyes to read any more of that document. Moments passed and an idea came to her, a brilliant one but she didn't know if Xena was going to go for it. "I have an idea," she smiled widely, a bit proud of herself.

Xena was worried as Gabrielle had a grand smile. "and what might that be?"

"Do you trust me?" she asked. She knew this was a loaded question and Xena would probably say no especially since she knew about Solan, but she had a chance.

"For the time being," Xena folded her arms.

 _Wow, that was a better response than I thought._ "I think you should reintroduce yourself to your people, as a new Xena, a Xena they have never seen before."

Xena cocked her head to the side and tapped her fingers on her arm. "My people hate me, it was obvious today in... _that_ village," she waved her hand wishing not to remember such things.

"I think...you have a good side to you Xena, I know you may find that hard to believe, but I believe it, I've seen it." Gabrielle hoped her words would seep into Xena's brain.

Xena chided, "signs of weakness, Gabrielle."

Now Gabrielle was becoming irritated. She was so stubborn that she couldn't even admit that she has been kind, not even once in her life. "So it was a sign of weakness when you gave those little children that pomegranate? Nobody forced you to do that."

Xena realized that this woman was worse than a conscious. She was her worst nightmare. An annoying pest that buzzed in her ear from time to time reminding herself that she was more than just an ex-warlord or an empress.

"So what do I do?" she asked genuinely.

* * *

A month had passed and Gabrielle had convinced Xena to completely change everything about her empire's regimes and regulations. Xena agreed to some while strongly disagreed on some accounts but Gabrielle had persisted. Xena was obviously stubborn and did not want to change some things, which Gabrielle understood that there were at least some boundaries. Octavius had reached Egypt fairly quickly and took Solan along with him. Xena received word from Cleopatra about her displeasure of allowing Octavius to come sauntering in like he owned the place. She never really liked the Egyptian Queen, and responded to her with a lengthy letter, which Gabrielle wrote. It explained that she gave Octavius free passage in Egypt temporarily as long as he stayed out of her way and could deal with Antony. Xena knew that this might end badly as the Egyptian Queen could be quite irrational sometimes, but she didn't mind. She was ready for anything that was thrown at her especially since Gabrielle had been basically changing her life. Xena wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Gabrielle had organized a public ceremony in one of the busiest areas of Athens. She told Xena that if she were to make these changes that she would have to tell her people about them publicly or they wouldn't take her seriously and think someone was making all the changes without Xena's consent. This was a rather big risk for Xena to take but Gabrielle knew that if she was genuine and serious about these changes that they would work.

Xena sat at her vanity in her room as Racha was dressing her hair in long ringlets. Xena looked at her reflection and she did not see the person she used to be. She used to be called the Destroyer of Nations, but here she looked like a stuffy princess. Racha put on some red dangle earrings on Xena and continued to fix her hair.

Gabrielle knocked at the door and came into the room without Xena being able to respond. She looked to Xena who appeared to be very uncomfortable by the expression on her face. She smiled, "you look very nice."

Xena eyed Gabrielle and frowned, "I don't look like myself," she stared at herself in the mirror again.

"Isn't that the point?" Gabrielle stated as a matter of fact. She walked over to the bed and saw what dress Racha picked out. It was gold with black trim along the low waist and breast.

Xena waved Racha away as she was getting irritated at the woman's constant fussing over her hair, it seemed perfect enough. The maiden bowed and left the room closing the door behind her. Gabrielle picked up the dress and brought it to Xena.

Gabrielle smiled, "this is going to look really good on you. Anything looks good on you," she put the long dress against her body admiring the beauty of the dress itself. It sparkled in the sunlight as well.

Xena snatched the gown out of Gabrielle's arms and went behind a changing panel, stripping herself of her black robe and threw it over the panel to Gabrielle.

The blonde hastily grabbed the robe and smiled as she saw Xena was trying to put on the dress behind the mesh panel. She looked to be having some trouble, but she smirked at this. She liked to see the conqueror in a more vulnerable state.

She heard an audible sigh from Xena and rose to her toes to try and peek over the panel to see what the problem was. She wasn't stupid enough to ask if she needed help so she stayed quiet secretly enjoying this moment.

"I'm not wearing this," Xena stated.

Gabrielle smiled, "I'm sure you look fine, Xena."

"I look like one of those noble women that I despise," Xena complained peeking her head around the panel to scowl at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at Xena. "You can't wear your battle armor, you'll look too threatening, just let me see."

Xena groaned and stepped out from the behind the mesh panel in the golden dress. The slit sleeves accentuated her gently tanned slim arms and her broad shoulders. She felt a little embarrassed to be standing there almost feeling completely naked, although fully clothed.

Gabrielle gaped and admired the beauty of Xena within the dress. She definitely made the dress, the dress didn't make her. Her beauty was something she should show off more, it might make her more likeable to her people.

Xena saw Gabrielle's face and this made her blush. They had spent a lot of time together in this past month. Revising scrolls after scrolls until everything was just right. Xena noticed that Gabrielle was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to writing and she was not. She just wanted everything to be done and be done in a quick timely manner.

"Can you stop gawking like that?" Xena stated and started fidgeting in her stance. "You're making a fuss over nothing," she mumbled. She came to the mirror and saw that definitely was not herself. Was this the right thing to do? Gabrielle had said so, but since when did her word trump her own? Was this idea to listen to Gabrielle really worth it? was talking to her people about her new changes really worth her time? She hoped so. Xena's hands ran over her breasts then her waist and stopped at her hips admiring her reflection. Something about this dress reminded her of her past. A dress very similar she had when she lived in Amphipolis with her mother a very long time ago, when she was a teenager. It reminded her of her wedding dress. A sudden memory came to flourishing into her mind.

* * *

_Amphipolis –Eighteen Winters Ago_

Xena stood in front of a body length mirror in a cream colored gown. She stood barefoot as her mother, Cyrene began pinning the bottom of the gown to match Xena's height. She was rather tall for a young woman of seventeen, perhaps the tallest girl in the village. Her brothers would tease her constantly over it but she didn't mind, because she always had great comebacks for them. Her medium length dark hair hung over her shoulders and framed her chiseled face. Xena's mother knew that she was quite beautiful and a lot of men from other villages wanted to marry her since she turned fifteen but she didn't want her daughter to be married off to just any man, he had to be special.

Cyrene poked herself with the needle and a slight grunt of discomfort alerted the young Xena. She knelt down to her mother who was on the floor sucking on her pricked finger.

"Are you alright?" Xena asked, she took her mother's hand and saw blood coming from her index finger. "you're bleeding," she frowned.

Cyrene smiled, "I'm fine Xena, please stand up straight, I'm almost finished with this dress."

Xena sighed and stood straight up once again staring at her reflection. She wasn't sure this was the right decision, she wanted to do so many things and being a mother and a housewife wasn't in her vocabulary. She felt she was destined to do great things in her life and being married off wasn't one of them.

A few minutes later Cyrene finally finished pinning the dress accordingly and stood up to stare at her daughter. She smiled instantly and hugged her tightly. "You look beautiful, Xena."

Xena did not respond but simply stared at her reflection, a sad reflection of someone that she definitely was not.

* * *

A similar echo came to Xena as she was brought back from her haunting past.

"you look beautiful, Xena" Gabrielle said.

Xena turned to Gabrielle just as she did to her mother all those years ago and nodded smiling softly saying absolutely nothing. Her response was bare. She said nothing.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: this chapter covers some stuff from last chapter as well as a few chapters ago. It's not super action packed, but has some surprise guests. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 14_

 

Xena rode her horse into the busiest area in Athens for the ceremony that Gabrielle prepared. The closer Xena came to the outer city the more nervous she became. Gabrielle was walking alongside her as she slowly rode on her black horse. She could sense her horse was nervous as well by her mannerisms and continuous noises she'd utter throughout the short journey. Xena felt sick to her stomach as she heard a lot of people in the square talking from afar. She was sure that everyone was going to hate her, she already knew that they did, but what were they going to do now that they saw her? She'd much rather lead an army than talk to the public about her new policies for her empire. She stared at Gabrielle and saw she was nervous, but not nearly as nervous as she was.

Gabrielle glanced upward, shielding her eyes with her arm against the bright sun. She smiled at the conqueror, "how are you feeling?"

Xena smirked, "you don't want to know how I'm feeling, Gabrielle," she pulled the reins and trotted on into the square. There her guards acted as shields for her as they created a path in the middle of the large crowd. She looked at all of the people surrounding her, some had scowls on their faces, while some looked frightened. She didn't like either one of those reactions, but maybe a month ago she would have dwelled in it, not now. Not anymore. Suddenly Xena caught a glimpse of the two children she met in the village not long ago. The children instantly recognized her, but were stunned by her large stallion and attire.

She smiled at the children and dismounted the horse, walking towards the two children. Many of the people watched Xena as she slowly came closer to the children who stood behind large guards with shields. She waved her hand dismissing the protective guards and knelt down eye level to the children.

The girl's once frightened eyes became soft and a smile appeared. Xena returned the smile as she saw the girl remembered her, even dressed like she was. The girl pulled out a pomegranate from her apron pocket and handed it to the conqueror woman.

Many eyes were on the intimate silent conversation between Xena and the young child. The raven haired woman took the pomegranate gingerly, smiling and then took her dagger out of a hidden sheath strapped to her calf underneath her gown. Gasps were audible as they saw Xena with a knife in hand, but Xena did not seem to notice that they were there. She simply sliced the fruit down the middle, twisting it gradually until she now held two halves. Her hand extended and placed the two halves in the girl's hands once more, revealing a smile as she stood up walking away from the girl.

Gabrielle watched the exchange and waited at the dais for Xena to come sit down in the chair she was standing next to. _Very good Xena, you're improving_. The chair was not ornate, not like her throne in her palace, but a simple chair that was fit for anyone to sit in. perhaps it would look strange for a woman like Xena to sit in, but this was once again, Gabrielle's idea. Xena met with Gabrielle at the top of the steps and sat down next to her.

"I think they're starting to like you," she whispered into Xena's ear.

Xena smirked, "I cut open a fruit and the crowd goes wild," she joked.

Gabrielle never knew that Xena had a jesting side to her, but it seemed to have come out the more time they spent together, which she adored. Xena seemed more relaxed around Gabrielle these days, although the first few weeks were rough, she slowly was able to convince Xena that she really needed to change some things about her empire and quickly, before a war broke out between Antony and Octavius.

An orator stood a few feet away from Xena possessing the most powerful thing in the world according to Xena. These were the changes she had made to her empire with Gabrielle's help of course. She wrote down all of the rules and regulations, several times over, especially if Xena changed her mind, which Gabrielle found out was quite a lot. She never thought Xena to be indecisive about something, but this proved that she had not dabbled in politics in quite some time. She liked to talk like she knew politics when she met with other warlords and emperors, but in truth she didn't really know a lot at all. Luckily Gabrielle had great skills in writing and had spent the majority of her teen and early adulthood with Romans and knew how they governed. Although Xena's empire was definitely not Roman, it was Athenian, it was Greek, technically speaking, even though Xena did not totally indentify herself as a Greek woman, she had to adhere to the Grecian life and laws for her changes.

The orator had several large scrolls sitting on a table next to him, Xena was sure this was going to take forever. Gabrielle told Xena that questions and comments would be open to the public if they had any and Xena would be obliged to answer them, no matter what they were. She knew that this task was going to be grueling for Xena and she'd possibly become impatient.

As the man spoke eloquently to the crowd Xena noticed some shocked faces as he addressed the financial issue in the empire, specifically in Athens and her surrounding smaller cities. The new regulations entailed that more money from the empire's treasury would be given to the needy and poverty stricken areas for two years until they find subsequent jobs. This also proposed that the borders would be lifted during the Fall and Spring seasons to allow travelers and merchants to come and go as they please between cities and various countries within the empire as well as outside countries. Xena also allowed Athens' port to be open to the public instead of being controlled by the Persian elites, since Phraates was no longer an ally, this did not pose a problem.

Once finished announcing the changes to finances within the empire the orator allowed for any open questions and Xena waited patiently. Her eyes scanned the crowd and saw that they were in such shock they couldn't say anything. It was so quiet that one could hear a cricket.

Gabrielle figured that this sort of thing would happen. They were all too afraid to say anything so she cleared her throat and stepped down onto the closest step. The people were feet away from her and she eyed all the women especially.

"If you have any concerns regarding these new changes, Xena would be glad to answer of them," she smiled, hoping that this would lighten the mood, but it didn't.

One woman spoke up for everyone, she was standing in the front row, "why should we believe her? She has been ruling this area for fifteen years and has not even lifted a finger for us. Why has she done this _now_?" everyone else whispered amongst themselves and nodded their head at this woman.

Gabrielle turned her gaze to Xena who didn't appear upset or even eager to answer. Her face was expressionless as far as she could tell. Her eyes widened at Xena and urged her to answer the woman's question.

Xena sighed and waved her hand, "I understand that everyone here does not like me and I'm okay with this," she surveyed the angry eyes and took a deep breath in. "But thanks to a few people that have slowly come into my life, I have decided that the way I rule is not just. I am no Roman emperor, but I believe I can change my empire for the good, for everyone here." She shared a smile with Gabrielle and their eyes locked for a moment as she finished speaking graciously to the public.

The woman nodded, "I have another question that my daughter wants to ask," she pulled her teenage daughter from out behind her.

Xena saw the young girl who reminded her of herself at that age, she looked to be only eighteen or so with pale skin and dark hair. She leaned forward waiting for the young girl's question intently. She tried not to look intimidating, but this was hard to accomplish.

The girl fidgeted and looked directly into Gabrielle's eyes then to Xena's bright blue eyes, which were very intense. Although she had never laid eyes on the conqueror woman, she had heard tales of her. Many said that she was ugly, but her thoughts were wrong on this, the woman was absolutely gorgeous with a long dark wavy mane and high cheekbones and olive skin.

"My father..." she stuttered, "has been in Carthage for over ten years and.." she nervously looked away from Xena's stare. "so have many other fathers in my village...he left because there were no jobs here...and young girls were prevented from going to school." She sighed, "because we did not have enough money...will my father and the others be able to come back here? And will the girls receive an education like the boys do?"

Xena listened to the girl's question, although she spoke softly she was able to hear her as the crowd was dead silent. She stood up and stepped down slowly coming closer to the people. Some backed away but the girl did not, she stared at the conqueror intently, waiting for an answer.

She approached the teen girl and stood feet away from her. "What is your name?" she asked in a soft tone.

The girl looked to her mother then back at Xena, "Alexa..." she lowered her gaze.

Xena smiled, "Alexa, that is a nice Greek name." she spoke louder so others could hear her now, "as you all know I am a Thracian, not a Greek, nor a Macedonian, but yet I have ruled these Grecian lands for over a decade. The Greeks dislike women receiving an education, this I knew. I myself, did not receive a proper education not like my assistant here, Gabrielle," she gestured her hand to Gabrielle who stood at the top of the steps.

"Because of your dear friend, Alexa, and in honor of all the young girls, I will make education available in the cities of Athens, Carthage and even Sparta in the Fall season."

Alexa smiled and Xena nodded and went back to sit down. "add that into the scrolls," she whispered to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle had a smug smile on her face, this was turning out not to be so bad after all. The ceremony continued onward for another hour or so and Xena continued to answer various questions about the changes. She was growing tired of sitting down and answering questions. This was utterly boring, she thought, but necessary according to Gabrielle. But she did enjoy that everyone seemed pleased at the new changes and even some dissolved themselves of their scowls.

* * *

A few men in the back of the crowd were watching Xena intently as she talked and talked for two hours, but the ceremony was coming to an end. One of the men saw Xena leaving the dais and mounting her horse to retreat back to her palace.

He smiled as he saw her leave on the horse with Gabrielle in tow. Borias had been in Athens for the remainder of the month doing some work. His work involved a lot of hidden political aims and goals. He was an employed mercenary which allowed him to travel through different empires easily as his business was very clear. He sat down coring an apple with his dagger and heard some of the men around him gossiping about the conqueror. He listened carefully, pretending that he had heard nothing. His hood covered half his face and he casually threw the apple skin on the sand by his boots.

"Do you really think she's being sincere?" one of the men said.

The other shook his head, "I dunno...I mean, she hasn't exactly been very nice to her people in the past."

"Yeah!" another joined in, "she's a murderer, she kills kids, how can we trust a woman like that?"

One of the men saw Borias coring the apple in silence a few feet away and he crossed his arms. "Hey dark and mysterious, what do you think of the conqueror's new plans?"

Borias took a bite out of the apple, not turning his gaze to the curious angry lad. "she's unpredictable." He smiled and continued to eat the fruit in silence.

The man scoffed, "you got that right! See even he can't trust her, isn't that..." he saw that the man in the hooded cloak had disappeared in the blink of an eye. "right..." he looked around for the man but he was nowhere to be found. He shrugged and continued talking with his pals in the tavern.

* * *

Borias had been in Athens without Xena's knowledge which didn't seem to be too hard as her guards kind of lacked in the searching department. His little joke at that party was actually no joking matter. He saw Xena on her horse in the woods with her guards and Gabrielle. He saw that she and her new assistant were chatting casually completely at peace. Something he hadn't seen Xena resemble in his life.

Suddenly he saw a brown hooded figure in the woods, feet away from Xena. He was slinking around behind tree trunks and carried a bow and arrow. Borias groaned and pulled his hood over his face making sure to keep his identity as secret. He had no real business following Xena anyway, but his instincts told him to follow her as he figured something like this would happen.

He approached the slim assassin and grabbed him from behind just as he was about to pull the arrow. Borias's hand covered the man's mouth and he drug him further back into the woods. He noticed that Xena was completely unaware, which was odd for her. She truly was distracted by something or _someone_. He flung the assassin into a tree trunk and held his dagger close to the young lad's throat.

"Who sent you?" Borias whispered making sure he was very quiet as Xena was a few yards away. She couldn't be _that_ distracted, he thought.

The man didn't talk, he appeared to be only a boy and Borias rolled his eyes and pressed the dagger into the boy's throat. His eyes were painted with kohl as was his mouth. "I'm not going to ask again," he threatened.

The young man was breathing heavily as he was afraid of what this assassin was going to do to him. This was his first job and it was quite a fetch, to kill the Athenian Empress would prove to be a great deed for him and especially a great asset to his résumé.

He flinched at the dagger coming into contact with precious veins. "R...Romans!" he managed to say out of fear.

Borias did not let up though, "which Roman?"

"Octavius's consilier..." he breathed heavily and then relaxed when Borias took the dagger away from his neck. The boy wanted to ran and before he was able to get up Borias slit his throat with a swift swing of the sharp blade. Borias shook his head at the boy and left him there to bleed out.

_Somehow Xena is going to blame this on me._

* * *

Xena was now back in her room stripped of her gown and all her dressings. She really didn't want to wear that gown anymore so thank the Gods that it was off now. Gabrielle knocked on her door and Xena allowed her to enter the room. She looked to see who it was and saw her little blonde assistant. Smiling at the woman she continued taking her hair apart as she sat in front of her vanity.

Gabrielle smiled and then waved Xena's hands away from her hair so she could tend to it herself. "you did a really good job today at the ceremony, Xena. I was impressed!" she took the pins out of her hair and put them in Xena's open palm, as if she already knew the routine.

The conqueror woman sighed, "I have never sat so long in my life listening to such complaints and questions..." she set the pins on the vanity and Gabrielle continued to run her fingers through her wavy hair. She grabbed Gabrielle's hand and brought her forward and she turned on the ottoman to face her.

"Who taught you all of those ideas for my new regime? I've never seen...a sla..." she saw the blonde's eyes change from sympathetic to slightly annoyed, "a young woman like yourself, so skilled in so many different areas..." she trailed off.

Gabrielle nodded, "well I was raised well by Roman soldiers. I had a Roman education for the remainder of my childhood. It seems that Rome has served me well."

Xena frowned, "there are no Romans in my empire. You can be my honorary Thracian," she smiled.

Gabrielle didn't abject to that. She rather liked being in more friendly terms with Xena instead of constantly being in fear of getting hurt or worse...dying. She hoped that Xena wouldn't resort back to that any time soon.

"so everything went well then? After we left?" Xena asked as she was waltzing towards the bath. Gabrielle shrugged and watched as Xena took off her robe behind the changing panel getting ready to take a bath, like she did every evening. It seemed routine.

Xena slipped into the warm bath behind a half open door. Racha had prepared the bath before Xena arrived back into the palace earlier. Gabrielle said nothing and was beginning to feel like she wasn't supposed to be here any longer.

"I'm going to go in my room to work on a few projects. I will see you at dinner, then?" she asked Xena.

She saw Xena wave her hand dismissively, "I will be there, but don't be disappointed if I am late again," she chided.

Gabrielle smiled at this and took her leave, "I won't wait up for you then," she closed the bedroom door and left Xena to her bath.

Xena closed her eyes and then felt something eerie in the room. She opened her eyes and Ares stood there on the other side of the bathtub. She grimaced at his sudden appearance.

"Why do you always insist on disturbing me during my bath time?" Xena sunk lower in the warm water, covering her bare chest careful not to reveal anything to the war god.

Ares smiled and knelt down close to the tub and dipped his fingers in the warm water. He saw that Xena wasn't as playful as she usually was when he came to visit. Although his last visit wasn't very warm either, but at least she teased him a bit before it got ugly. He sighed and saw that she moved her feet away from him beneath the water.

"Is that any way to treat a guest, Xena, especially..well," he laughed, "you know..me," he smiled at her but received no response.

"You're overstaying your welcome, Ares," she said with a sarcastic smile as she washed her arms gently with a wash cloth.

Ares folded his arms and then appeared behind her gently touching her wet hair at the nape of her neck. Xena closed her eyes trying to distract herself from his touch. _I don't need you anymore, Ares_. She remained focused and continued washing her arms as his hand slowly traveled down her collar bone and into the water carefully. She frowned as she felt his hand cupping her breast so slightly, but enough to irritate her. She smirked suddenly and lifted her body out of the water turning to face Ares as he was kneeling down close to the tub's edge.

She smiled at his agape mouth as she stood before him wet and naked. "Is this what you want?" she smiled and put her foot on the edge of the tub. His face inches away from her smooth calf.

_So tempting._ Ares closed his eyes and tried to focus himself. As much as he wanted to look at Xena, this angle wasn't helping at all. He stood up and now they were at eye level, although his eyes did not meet hers equally.

Xena had a smug smile on her perfect lips, "I didn't think so," she sat back down in the water, this time on the other side of the tub and stared directly at him, still smiling smugly.

He groaned, "you can't just...do that Xena. That is just..."

" _Unfair_?" she finished his sentence.

Dead silence.

"I didn't think you were a man of fairness, Ares," Xena continued to play this game, she knew that he loved games, but what she also knew was that he was really bad at receiving the blows of his own twisted logic thrown at him.

Ares chided, "I wasn't going to say unfair," he fumbled, "I was going to say...cruel."

Xena chuckled, "oh is that what it is then? I am just a cruel hearted bitch, isn't that what..." she squeezed the water out of the cloth onto her neck and smiled, "you like, Ares?"

Ares was becoming irritated with this woman. She did not want to bed him, but yet she liked to tease him because she knew that it got a rise out of him. This, he didn't want to give her satisfaction to. _Not today, Xena_. He sighed and then paced around the bathtub casually.

"Remember that proposition I told you about?"

Xena shrugged, "Not really. I must not have been paying attention," she smiled at his demise.

Ares groaned at the woman. He wasn't into this game she was playing anymore. "Well I think you'll listen now, what do you think?"

Xena didn't respond and kept cleaning her neck and shoulders as well as occasionally dipping her hair into the water multiple times.

"How would you like to possess the most powerful weapon there is?" Ares touched her neck with his fingers once more and kissed her cheek softly.

This seemed to grab Xena's attention and her eyes widened, becoming more attentive than before.

Ares felt the rise in Xena's body as he spoke of the proposition. He rather enjoyed this and used this to his advantage, coming closer to her ear gingerly pulling her wet hair away from her cheek. The more he touched her the more he noticed that she couldn't resist his touch. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply and then grabbed his hand tightly.

As much as he was enjoying Xena's reaction to his touch he had to continue talking to keep her interested. "You do have to do something to get it though.." he kissed her hand and Xena opened her eyes and stared into his dark eyes.

"What do I have to do then?" she asked curiously.

Ares smile grew wider as he saw the fire within Xena's eyes. _This was too easy_ , _I knew that blonde wouldn't be able to change who you really are...Xena._

* * *

The following morning Xena woke up in her bed with the blankets sprawled across her body. She shied her eyes away from the sun as it was blazing through the curtains. She sat up and groaned, feeling sore in places she had forgotten she had. _What did I do?_ She remembered the bath and Ares...then suddenly she frowned thinking of Ares. _Of course, Ares. How could I forget that..._

She sat up and suddenly felt like she needed to take another bath after last night. As much as she liked Ares in her past, he was rather annoying now and completely obsessed with her which she didn't fancy. Sometimes he came off as needy or even clingy whenever he came around her, but last night. No that was a mistake. Xena slipped on her robe and opened her door to find Racha sitting in a chair waiting patiently.

"Could you...prepare another bath?" Xena asked feeling kind of like an nucence since Racha already did that last night. Then Xena remembered that she missed dinner...again. she had missed dinner twice in a row and let Gabrielle down once more. While Racha was preparing the bath again Xena retreated downstairs to the dining hall still in her silk robe.

She saw Gabrielle eating some fruit, reading a scroll by herself at the table. Feeling slightly embarrassed Xena came to sit across from Gabrielle. She saw the blonde's green eyes trail up from her book and she looked displeased.

Xena smiled sheepishly. "I forgot again," she admitted. There were no excuses this time.

"Should I have my dinner sent to my room from now on?" Gabrielle said as she popped a few grapes into her mouth.

Xena didn't know what to say to that. Usually she ate by herself and it was strange to have someone join her for such meals, that she simply forgot.

"I'm...sorry," Xena said barely audibly. And looked down to her empty plate in front of her not wishing to look at the smug smile on Gabrielle's face right now.

Gabrielle put her scroll aside and grinned, "what was that?" she wanted to hear Xena say that one more time. She had never seen or heard Xena apologize since she had been here.

Xena frowned, "Gabrielle." She said in a firmer voice than before.

Gabrielle sighed, "it was worth a shot anyway. So what kept you from dinner?" she asked curiously.

Xena froze at this question. She really didn't want to answer that as it seemed strange to say that she had a visit from the God of War, which was true, but she didn't want to disclose this with Gabrielle. "I went to sleep early," she lied.

"I see. Must have been tired from yesterday huh?" Gabrielle eyed Xena and her face was unreadable.

_You could say that._ Xena smiled, "yeah..." she said unsure of her own words, but Gabrielle didn't seem to press on further.

Later Xena returned to her room to take another bath, hoping that Ares doesn't pop up again. She really hated having her baths interrupted especially by him. She put her hair up in a bun as she slipped into the warm water. She remembered what Ares said about the weapon...she wanted the weapon, but couldn't really recall what he wanted her to do to get it, she was obviously too distracted. There was something that seemed to fog her memory, something blocking it. it was as if he didn't want her to remember...she figured he had done something to her, but it probably wasn't it. that wasn't really his style.

Yesterday Xena had a memory of her mother and her wedding dress...those times seemed like eons ago to her, though she often thought of her mother and her well-being, she did not wish to see her as it would only hurt her mother. She could slaughter thousands of men, but she didn't wish to cause her mother any more pain than she needed to.

Something that Ares said made her recall that memory of her mother once more. Xena looked at her reflection in the bath water and frowned.

_"I'll always be around,"_

Xena splashed the water distorting her reflection as she recalled what Ares said to her last night. _That bastard._ Those exact words were used against her many years ago, when she was seventeen. Words that she'd never thought she would hear again.

* * *

_Amphipolis –Eighteen Winters Ago_

Xena was in the back of her mother's tavern cleaning some dishes when Lyceus saw his sister by herself cleaning. He smiled and decided he would definitely have the perfect chance to scare his older sister. He grabbed Xena's waist and she dropped a bowl. It shattered all over the floor and she frowned, hitting her brother in the shoulder.

"Lyceus, what were you thinking?" she yelled.

Cyrene called out from the front of the tavern, "is something going on back there?"

Xena frowned, "no..." she called out and knelt down to pick up the broken bowl pieces. Lyceus knelt down as well and helped pick up the shattered pottery.

He smiled sheepishly, now feeling bad that he caused Xena to drop a bowl...one of their mother's favorite bowls at that. "Sorry, I just wanted to scare you."

"Well good job it worked," Xena said in an irritated voice and threw the broken bowl into a bin and wiped her hands off onto a cloth. She then threw the dirty cloth into her brother's face. "Now you get to clean the rest of those dishes."

Lyceus saw Xena marching off out of the kitchen and into the nearby woods. "What?! Xena come on..." but she had already left and he saw her through the window going deeper into the forest. He sighed and starting cursing to himself for even trying to scare his sister in the first place.

Cyrene came into the kitchen and saw her youngest son cleaning the dishes instead of Xena. She raised an eyebrow and frowned, "isn't that Xena's job?"

He scoffed, "not anymore. She went to the woods, I dunno why," he shrugged and continued to clean the plates and bowls.

"the woods? She goes there a lot lately." Cyrene folded her arms thinking it was rather strange of Xena to disappear into the woods like that so often.

Lyceus didn't think it was strange. Xena was very adventurous and going into the woods didn't seem surprising to him. "She's Xena..." he smiled.

"Yes...indeed. have you seen Maphias today? I sent him into town with Toris to get some supplies," Cyrene wasn't really focused on Xena anymore.

Lyceus shook his head, "I haven't seen Toris or what's his face all day."

Cyrene gently slapped her son's shoulder and he flinched. "Don't call him that, Xena is going to marry him very soon. He's a good man."

"Yeah, okay," he ignored his mother's glare and continued washing dishes.

Xena walked into the woods casually picking up some sticks to toy with to distract herself as she waited. She came here every afternoon when she knew Maphias wasn't in the area. Today he was going to be gone for a very long time as he was in town with her older brother, Toris. They had been gone since early this morning.

Xena finally saw the person she was waiting for appear from behind a few shrubs. He smiled as he saw Xena standing there very innocently like a little girl.

"What took you so long?" Xena asked, feeling a bit forgotten.

Petracles grinned and kissed Xena's hand softly, "I had some business to take care of. Your hands," he held both of them and looked at her palms. They were dry and rather dirty, which he wasn't used to seeing.

"I was washing dishes," she snatched her hands away from him.

Petracles tisked and shook his head, "someone like you shouldn't be washing dishes," he smiled and wrapped his arm around her narrow waist.

Xena felt her cheeks flush, "I...have to go back soon or my mother will think I have gone missing," she felt his hands traveling down her back and he kissed her shoulder, slowly slipping off her dress's sleeves.

She sighed heavily and pushed him away with a bit more force than she intended. She fixed her dress and hair, "I'm serious Petracles!"

He folded his arms, "when are you going to leave that guy and come explore the world with me, Xena? We could do so much together," he smirked.

Xena smiled back and then started retreating back to the tavern, "I will see you later, Petracles."

The following day Xena was outside picking some berries from a shrub close to her house and then was approached by Maphias. He kissed her cheek and she smiled shyly.

"It's rather early of you to be picking berries isn't it?" Maphias said and began helping her pick the berries off the thorny bush.

Xena shrugged, "I have nothing better to do," she grabbed her basket and went back to the house and Maphias followed behind her. She set the basket down on the table and saw Lyceus sitting eating some bread. She smirked at her brother, "did you get those dishes cleaned, Lyceus?"

Her brother rolled his eyes, "yes..." grumbled and left the table as he wanted to eat in peace. He didn't wish to hear his sister gloating.

Maphias saw Xena was picking the stems off the berries, and her fingers were now stained red. He sat across from her admiring her beauty. Suddenly he saw Xena's eyes meet his and she raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she asked.

"Why don't we go for a walk today..or something?" he suggested.

Xena pursed her lips, "I'm not really feeling very good right now."

His face immediately turned from enthusiastic to rather concerned. He touched her hand and she stopped picking at the berries. "are you sick?"

She wasn't expecting him to become so concerned, "a little bit, but I'll be fine," she smiled patting his arm.

Lyceus let out a one sided laugh, "it's probably because you eat too many berries, Xena."

Xena shot him a glare and this only made Maphias snicker as Xena's brother teased her. She wiped her hands on her apron and then put the basket elsewhere, not wishing to stay in the same room as these two clowns.

Her brother sighed, "Xena, it's just a joke! Gods, you're so sensitive these days," he shook his head and finished up the last chunk of his bread. He jumped off the window sill and wiped his hands on his pants. "Well, I'm going to go into town to get some stuff for mother. I'll see you guys later," he saluted then left the house in a hurry as he didn't want to see Xena anymore and her awful glare.

Maphias saw Xena fidgeting in the kitchen trying to keep herself busy with random tasks. He saw she was looking rather flustered. "Are you sure you're alright? Your brother is just teasing, you know."

She put a spoon down and said seriously, "I know he's just joking around, but he's not always funny. I'm going to go to my room for a little bit." She took off her apron and retreated to her room. Maphias was going to follow her but she stopped him. "I really don't feel well, I'm sorry," she continued down the hallway until she got to her room and crashed onto her bed sighing heavily.

Xena rolled over onto her back and rested her hand on her stomach staring at the blank ceiling. Slowly she felt like sleep was taking over and then she soon dozed off into a light sleep.

And hours later, Xena woke up because she heard a noise at her window, she shot up from her bed. She was surprised nobody came in to wake her up but she figured Maphias told her mother that she wasn't feeling well so she was not disturbed. Feeling slightly sweaty and uncomfortable she groaned and went to her window to see Petracles standing there. Luckily her house was in the back of the village and nobody lived behind her otherwise there would be some serious questions and aqusations.

"What are you doing?" Xena chided and he stayed smiling. "Are you insane?" she backed up as he climbed through her window into her bedroom.

He shrugged, "you didn't come to out to the woods like you normally do," he saw that her forehead was wet and her hair wild.

She smacked her palm against her forehead and cursed herself. "I'm sorry, I...fell asleep."

He brushed some damp locks away from her cheeks and saw her face was reddened from heat. "Something the matter with you?" he asked with concern and brushed the backside of his hand against her cheek.

Xena closed her eyes at his touch and she grabbed his hand gently, "I'm fine," she smiled.

"you don't look fine," he kissed her forehead gingerly and she breathed out slowly.

She shook her head, "you can't be here, if someone comes in here I am going to have to explain everything to Maphias...my mother...you need to leave," she started pushing him towards her window again.

He laughed, "alright, alright. I get the idea, you don't want me to be seen."

She nodded her head rapidly and urged him to leave her room immediately.

Petracles took hold of Xena's chin and kissed her lips, "I'll always be around." He jumped off the window sill and retreated back into the woods. Xena watched him leave and wondered where he exactly went. He never told her what his occupation was, but she was rather curious to find out. She touched her lips with her fingertips and sat on her bed trying to comprehend what just happened here.

Exhaling deeply she laid down on her side on the bed staring at her bedside table, picking at the wood with her fingernails to calm her nerves. Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach again and rolled over to her other side curling up, bringing her knees close to her chest.

She heard her door open and didn't want to see who it was.

"Are you feeling better?" Maphias asked.

She didn't turn over to face him but stared at the dark wall in front of her, "yes..." she lied. _I feel great_.

* * *

Xena remembered that time. She remembered those words and they were exactly the same as Ares' words. So manipulating yet so enticing at the same time. But Petracles left...even after what happened, Xena didn't want to think about that anymore. Ares wasn't going to leave though, he was _always_ there.

"Bastards."

**AN: what is Ares' plan and why can't Xena remember?**

 


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: This is the start of Ares' plan in this chapter. Enjoy ;) it is definitely a wild ride.**

_Chapter 15_

_Rome_

Solan was outside training with a man about the same age as him. It had taken a lot of convincing from his uncle to finally train properly. After his fail attempt to spar with Gabrielle at Xena's fortress, he was terribly embarrassed and he didn't want to feel that any longer. So he told Octavius that he wanted to learn the art of swordsmanship and learn it well. Although he did not stray from his studies, but he decided to put them on hold because he wanted to focus on more important matters on hand. Octavius had named him his future successor and to be a successor of Octavius Julius Caesar he had to become the jack of all trades. Solan must know how to wield a sword, a quill and be charismatic with his words and attitude. He had figured that he had gotten the quill and charisma down for sure, but learning the ways of the sword was surely new to him.

Slowly he danced around the young lad as he held a wooden sword in his hand. He smiled as the young slave was becoming nervous the more he circled him. Solan swung the sword towards his opponent and knocked the fake weapon out of the slave boy's hands onto the dirt. He then kicked the boy down and pointed the sword at his neck, now the slave was sure to surrender. The slave held his hand up for a sign of defeat and Solan smiled, throwing the sword off to the side to grab a towel to wipe his sweaty forehead.

"Good fight Aramis, meet again after dinner?" Solan wrapped the towel around his shoulders and helped the young lad up off the ground.

"Yes sir," Aramis bowed and quickly picked up the weapons to leave the training grounds.

Octavia watched the spar from afar and she began to clap slowly as she saw Solan was rather proud of himself. Smirking she walked towards her kid-like nephew and folded her arms. "I thought you didn't want to learn how to use a sword, Solan?"

Solan shrugged, "my studies are equally as important but the sword...proves to be a great weapon these days especially to that bastard Marc Antony and his Persian lackey." He showed a smug smile and retreated back into the villa to grab a vase of water to pour into two glasses, one for him and one for his aunt.

He handed the glass to Octavia and she gladly took it drinking slowly. He downed the water immediately to quench his thirst.

She cleared her throat, "I think you have been spending too much time with Octavius. He can be rather persuasive..." she eyed Solan who seemed to barely notice her existence.

Solan turned and nodded, "perhaps, excuse me would you? I need to talk to Octavius. I have a meeting with him in a few minutes." He smiled and swiftly walked to his uncle's office.

Octavius was in a meeting with his trusted friend Tiberius and he saw Solan enter the room through the large open archway. He had a towel wrapped around his shoulders, bare chest, and wearing half a toga with some old sandals. He smiled as Tiberius looked to Solan. He could see that his work in his protégé was paying off very well.

"Did you have a good sparing lesson?" Octavius said as he set down his glass of wine on his desk.

Solan nodded, "yes I did. I have come for our meeting but if you are busy I can come back later...?" he eyed Tiberius, who now was his trusted ally and became his tutor in the arts of weaponry. It was all he really wanted, but to know the history of the sword was equally as fascinating as wielding one.

Octavius waved his hand dismissively and Tiberius nodded curtly allowing himself to exit the room leaving his emperor alone with his 'nephew' Solan. Octavius shifted in his seat and saw Solan sat down across from him and set the damp towel in his lap and crossed one leg over the other.

"So did you do what I asked you to do?" Octavius was implying about Solan's plan to shoot Xena after her so called important ceremony. He laughed at the idea once he heard the news that Xena was to change her regime and policies. Octavius knew that Xena couldn't change, she had been stuck in her old ways for far too long and to change in a matter of a few months seemed impossible.

Solan sighed, "yes I did, but I have not heard word from my assassin yet. Perhaps Xena has captured him," he gathered trying to think of all the possibilities. It had been a week since Xena's ceremony and no word from her or his assassin.

Octavius nodded, "I think your assassin failed in his mission otherwise we would have heard some sort of report from Xena if she had been hit." He drank from his glass as he stared at Solan. He saw a confused face upon his nephew and this puzzled him. _Was he not happy that I gave him a new position?_

"Something on your mind?" he asked.

Solan quirked his mouth to the side in deep thought. "Well, I don't see the point in attempting to assassinate Xena. She is very well armed and she is not shy of using her swordsman skills."

The Roman emperor then began to laugh aloud, "silly Solan. I'm not trying to assassinate Xena. If I were trying to kill Xena I wouldn't send a newbie assassin to kill her. I just wanted to make her aware of her ludicrous decisions especially the pact that she made with Cleopatra."

"So then why shoot her with an arrow, why not send a letter?" Solan seemed perplexed at his sudden hatred of the Thracian empress.

Octavius smiled, "you have much to learn in the world of war, my boy. It is impossible to have your way with Xena, she always has the last word, but you see if we alarm her when she least expects it..." he grabbed his quill and jammed it into the map on his desk on the city marked Athens. "...then she'll know what kind of game to play."

"and what kind of game is that uncle?"

The roman smiled and took the quill out of the map and circled Athens staring at it intently then he frowned at the thought of Xena taking over Egypt. He needed to get rid of Marc Antony first but in order to do that without any bloodshed he needed Xena to crash and burn.

"The art of war."

* * *

_Athens_

Gabrielle was outside writing on parchment in the nice weather. Fall season was approaching and the weather was very crisp outside and not hot like a month ago. She liked to sit outside sometimes to enjoy the peaceful gardens so her creativity could flourish. It had been a week since the ceremony in that village and Xena's new policies were already taking affect in her empire. Families were being reunited and jobs were slowly coming back, although since it had been a week Gabrielle thought things were moving rather quickly.

She sighed and continued writing. She decided to document her stay in Athens since she first met Xena in the marketplace. She wanted to have a record of everything. Deeply entrenched in her thoughts she blocked out all her surrounding noises like the birds chirping and a subtle breeze flowing through her short blonde locks.

Xena walked by the gardens and saw Gabrielle sitting by herself writing on her parchment. She grabbed a peach and smiled at the scribe engrossed in her work, which seemed like a hobby as well as a job. She was glad that she made Gabrielle her personal scribe, she is really good at what she does, but she was good at so many other things that Xena was not. Her way with words were far better than Xena could even imagine and she also could fight, which that excited Xena, but it had been a long while since Gabrielle fought with a weapon in hand.

The conqueror strolled outside in the gardens in one of her silk robes and stood in front of Gabrielle blocking her sunlight. Gabrielle looked up to see that her view of light was blocked by a tall raven haired woman. She smiled at Xena.

"Hey, you missed breakfast again," Gabrielle said a little disappointed. Xena was not really known for eating breakfast especially with guests, but she figured that since she had made the effort to come to the table every morning the least Xena could do was show up even if she didn't eat anything.

Xena sighed, "I know I'm sorry. My mind has me spinning in different directions lately," she took a bite of the juicy peach and walked away from Gabrielle allowing the sun to provide the scribe some light again.

Gabrielle set down her parchment on the empty spot next to her. She knew Xena didn't like to talk about her past or her life but at least she admitted that she was having some trouble coping with whatever was going on inside her head. She saw Xena wandering around in the garden admiring the plants and flowers casually avoiding her stare.

"So I'm guessing you don't want to talk about it then?" Gabrielle asked hoping that Xena would open up to her."

Xena smiled and turned to face the hopeful Gabrielle. "You know I'm not one for words, Gabrielle."

The scribe folded her arms and smiled, "alright, how 'bout this, why don't I talk and you listen?"

Xena raised an eyebrow at this. _What is wrong with her_?

Gabrielle saw Xena's face and immediately laughed, "do you trust me?" she had asked this once before, but she figured that more emphasis on it would coax Xena into agreeing with her.

Xena nodded her head slowly taking another bite of the fruit. _This ought to be good_.

_Good, she's coming around._ "have you been having dreams lately? I mean...bad dreams?"

Xena scoffed, "my life is a nightmare Gabrielle, why would I allow my head to transform those realities into dreams?"

"I'm talking right now, not you, remember?" Gabrielle said firmly

Xena rolled her eyes and shook her head but did not detest at Gabrielle's words. "How am I supposed to just listen when you ask me a question?"

Gabrielle wanted to laugh. Xena could be too literal sometimes and it was quite laughable. "Just nod your head yes or no, okay?" she realized that Xena was a very matter-of-fact kind of a woman.

"Do you have nightmares?" she asked again. Xena nodded her head almost afraid to admit that she was somewhat normal. "I could understand why you have nightmares...I mean with your life, the way you lived..must be hard?" her eyes watched Xena as she walked around in a large circle inside the garden square. She could see the gears turning in her head. She began again, "I don't think you've allowed yourself to forgive."

Xena looked at Gabrielle, _is she insane_? "Forgive? Who am I supposed to forgive? The Romans? The Gods?" she realized she broke Gabrielle's rules and saw the blonde's eyes narrow. She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. "Come on Gabrielle, I had to respond to that."

_This was going to be harder than I thought._ "I meant...to forgive yourself, Xena," she stated lamely. She saw Xena change her posture and suddenly began pacing back and forth slowly, looking up at the sky in thought. "If you don't forgive yourself then you can't really move on from your past wrong doings. You're on a new path, Xena. You can't allow your past to continue to haunt you...like Solan," she finally said his name. she hadn't mentioned Solan since that one night when Borias was here talking to Xena alone in private.

Xena stopped and marched up to Gabrielle who now stood up looking directly into her eyes. Gabrielle was quite serious and her green eyes proved it so. They stared into each other's eyes for quite some time and Xena's nostrils flared slightly. Gabrielle didn't seem to back down though.

"The past is the past. I can't change that."

Gabrielle backed away from Xena and folded her arms smiling in disbelief at what Xena said. Did she even care about her own son? "Normally I would say that he needs a mother, but he seems to have that taken care of, right?"

Xena threw the fruit pit into the nearby shrubs and pointed her finger in Gabrielle's face, "that is not your place to say, Gabrielle! I have my reasons for what I did for Solan and if it wasn't for Borias...then..." she trailed off and growled, "then he wouldn't be a Roman."

Gabrielle saw Xena's eyes swell with tears, something she hadn't seen since they'd been together. Suddenly her heart sunk as she saw this strong and sometimes scary woman show a sign of emotion, emotions of a real person. Xena turned away not wishing to shed tears in front of Gabrielle. It was embarrassing enough that she had done it in front of Borias, now Gabrielle. _Great job, Xena_.

"I didn't want to upset you," Gabrielle said in a softer tone than earlier.

Xena said nothing and instead of leaving and going to hide in her room like she usually did when she showed any sign of this kind of emotion she turned to face Gabrielle. Her eyes still wet, but not shedding any tears.

"If...you gave him away I'm sure you had good reason," now Gabrielle was starting to feel bad for even bringing this subject up but it was rather strange that Xena was just now struck by such emotions even after a long time, a very long time.

Xena looked away, "that's just it Gabrielle," she folded her arms, "I _didn't_ have a good reason," she swallowed and folded her arms looking off into the distance.

Everything was clear to Gabrielle now, Xena was feeling very guilty for her past decisions. She obviously cared about her son but couldn't justify it because fifteen years ago she did not feel this guilt, or did she and refused to show it?

"you're different now Xena, I know you are, I can see it. Whatever you did in the past doesn't show who you are becoming now," Gabrielle tried to reassure the conqueror but it didn't seem to be working.

"If I had the chance," Xena began softly, "I would do everything differently," her eyes stared directly into Gabrielle's.

Gabrielle stood up and grabbed Xena's hand tightly smiling warmly up at her icy blue eyes. "I'm sure you would, Xena."

Xena smiled tenderly and returned the squeeze of the hand embrace then abruptly let go to wipe her eyes of her impending tears.

Later that evening Xena finally was able to fall asleep after a light dinner with Gabrielle. She was sure not to miss it this time. Once she had taken her routine bath she had fallen asleep with ease as soon as her head hit the pillow. Throughout the day Xena seemed to have a weight lifted off her shoulders after she spoke with Gabrielle. They didn't talk much about her past but it was enough to satisfy her needs. For once she would remain asleep during the night and not wake up constantly with paranoia. Xena breathed lightly as she lay on her side with the blankets barely covering her naked body. She turned over and her eyebrows cringed, pulling the covers over her body. A gush of wind came through her window causing her to stir in her sleep. Xena rolled over covering her body and continued to sleep soundly.

* * *

The following morning Xena woke up to a loud noise from outside her bedroom. She jolted awake and breathed heavily. Blinking rapidly she began to look at her surroundings and they were very unfamiliar to her but yet...she felt like she had been here before. She was no longer in her ornate palace bedroom but in a large tent sitting on a floor bed slightly raised by wood panels. Xena covered her body with the covers, and her fingers felt the material of the blankets. They were not of silk but of animal skins and she started to feel something she hadn't felt in awhile and that was fear. _Where am I_?

Xena heard the loud noise again and she jumped at it. she hadn't heard that sound in awhile but now it was completely obvious to her. She reached over to the side of the bed attempting to grab her robe but then realized that there was no silk robe next to her bed. She groaned and wrapped the black sheet around her body and marched out of the large tent. She saw large catapults and a group of armed men firing them one by one into a village a few yards away. Xena looked around and saw that this was all too familiar to her. She wasn't in Athens anymore, she was in Corinth and she knew this because she remembered this day...it was a great day for her back then, but now...she couldn't even begin to think why she would be here? She had been transported somehow to her first days as a warlord with her first lover, Petracles.

Suddenly she was starting to feel very sick the more she looked around her. She hoped that this was all a horrible dream, but she knew if it were a dream she'd wake up by now.

"You're up late, so I decided to start without you, hope you don't mind?" Petracles winked at Xena as he wrapped his arms around Xena who was still wrapped in the black sheet.

Xena instantly rejected his embrace and backed away almost tempted to kill him. Feeling her blood boiling she couldn't believe that she ever loved this man. She ran her fingers through her hair and then realized that her once waist-length hair was no more, but shorter and just barely down to her elbows. _What in Hades is this?_

She looked around and saw more of the men firing the catapults. Xena almost felt bad for those villagers, they didn't deserve to die. The more she thought of the villagers the more she thought of Gabrielle and her village that she eventually sacked. Then it suddenly hit her...it was not long after this that she destroyed Gabrielle's village with some men of her own. Xena felt sick again and wrapped the sheet tighter around her body and finally stared at the puzzled Petracles.

"What are you looking at?" she grimaced.

He shook his head, "What did I do? Why don't you put some clothes on so we can go into this village, huh?" he smiled and Xena rolled her eyes.

"you'd like that wouldn't you?" Xena smiled sarcastically.

This disturbed Petracles. Xena had left that fiancé of hers back in Amphipolis and he was glad that she did especially when that warlord Cortese destroyed her village and got her youngest brother killed in the process. He didn't understand Xena's sudden behavior.

"Well...this was your idea to do this," he mentioned and folded his arms. "My men won't be done for awhile, I could come...help you dress, if you'd like?" he wrapped his arms around her and Xena pushed him away.

"Don't touch me!" Xena went back into the tent by herself and threw the sheet to the side. She saw her black armor laying on a chair and she picked it up holding it close to her body. She walked over to the mirror and stared at her reflection. She definitely remembered this armor and she didn't want to put it on again. She felt displaced, like a stranger in her own reality. Xena suddenly wanted to be back in her palace with all her wealth and Gabrielle than in her seventeen year old body again.

She threw the armor across the room and frowned. "This is a trick by the Gods, I swear it," she grumbled. "do you hear me you Olympian bastards?!" she yelled to the ceiling of the tent. Xena was becoming frustrated again and sat on the bed thinking of who could have sent her back in time. Then Petracles entered the tent and Xena didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing her naked so she wrapped herself in animal furs.

"Something wrong with you, Xena?" he asked slightly concerned.

Xena laughed, "Oh I'm fine, don't you worry about me," she stood up and began pacing back and forth trying to figure all of this out. _I'd_ _really like some of your words of wisdom right about now Gabrielle._ He made his rounds and touched her face with his fingers. She knew this game he played. This time Xena had the advantage and suddenly it was sweeter than ever. She smacked his hand away from her chin and he backed away slowly.

"Am I diseased all of a sudden to you?" he huffed and folded his arms.

_Something like that._ Xena decided that if she were to understand what's going on here she needed to play this game, but to her advantage, not his. So she stood up and came close to him, slowly teasing him. She had perfected this art for many years now and knew exactly what she was doing. She had such practice with Borias for a long while so this would be easy especially with Petracles because he was easier to manipulate.

"Oh...no I just wanted you to make the first move," Xena teased and kissed his lips softly and bit his lower lip just enough to draw blood.

Petracles winced and pulled away touching his lip. He looked at his blood stained fingers, "you bit me!" he stated.

She shrugged and waltzed around and then slipped off the animal furs, revealing her body exposed to his eyes. She saw he reacted rather quickly and gawked. Xena wanted to roll her eyes _. Men are so stupid sometimes._ Petracles admired Xena's subtle curves and perfectly olive toned flesh before his eyes. He kissed her neck slowly and wrapped his arms around the small of her back bringing her closer to him.

Xena rolled her eyes but continued to play her game with Petracles. She smiled and pushed him away slightly, "don't you think we ought to save that for later?" she teased.

Awhile later Xena managed to put on that horrible black armor in the tent and slipped on some knee high black boots to match. She definitely did not miss wearing this as it reminded her of horrible things. She stood at the top of the hill watching the nearby village burn. Xena sighed as she heard the screams of small children from afar. This sound she did not wish to hear. How could she ever like the sound of that? Then she realized that during this time everything changed for her.

Petracles came next to her with a grand smile. "Nice isn't it?"

Xena looked at him and then back to the blazing fire, "if you say so," she felt a cramp in her side and winced at the sudden pain. She held her side with her hand and breathed out slowly.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her and Xena shook her head.

"I'll be fine," Xena turned around and mounted the horse ready to head toward the burning village. She didn't really feel like reliving this again, but if she were to do this then she'd make sure she'd get something good out of it.. _this time_.

* * *

Ares watched through a portal at the young Xena he once loved and cherished. A smile came to his face as he stood with the three Fates. "Oh Xena...be careful what you wish for," he laughed softly as he watched Xena ride towards the village with the apparent discomfort on her face and disappointment.

"you can't have any distractions from the beginning can you, warrior queen?" Ares watched Xena carefully admiring her youth. She was so young, so vulnerable. He rather liked that Xena as she was now too soft especially with that Gabrielle around. He really didn't like what the blonde was doing to Xena, his warrior queen. He needed to get that blonde out of Xena's mind and put back her will to fight, her desire to hate once again.

Ares watched through the portal some more and saw Xena's disgusted face as she was surrounded by death of children, women, men, families, pets, everyone was dead. He smiled, rubbing his chin as he saw Xena walk through the village alone with her sword in her hand.

* * *

Xena saw dead bodies of once a beautiful village and it was now destroyed because of her, all because of her. _Why would I ever do this?_ She rounded a corner and breathed heavily trying to block out the surroundings. She closed her eyes and thought of something other than this death and destruction. Suddenly she bent over and threw up in the burnt shrubbery. Xena was on her knees and wiped her mouth with the backside of her hand.

Slowly she stood up and continued onward walking through the streets alone _. Gabrielle what would you do?_


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: fast update this time. The Fates are working with Ares and Xena has a few tricks up her sleeve as she has been transported into her past life as a young teen warlord. This is the beginning of the altering timeline in Xena's life. Will it prove worthy or in doom later? Enjoy and good luck ;)**

**thank you for your kind reviews, I do read every single one and reply to those that I can. This chapter is going to throw some of you for a loop, so be prepared for that.**

_Chapter 16_

Xena was surrounded by death and all she could think about were Gabrielle's words when she called her a murderer of children. No, not again. This was not going to happen again. Xena searched around and heard screams as Petracles' army sliced throats with ease. She cringed at that sound and she once loved that sound but now it seemed that it was a curse. This was her nightmare and it was only to get worse if she remembered this time correctly. Her stomach hurling once more and the stench of burning corpses was not helping. She covered her mouth and breathed slowly as she lay her eyes upon dead children at her feet.

All of a sudden Xena saw a wagon that was not torched and she drug it over to the nearby dead bodies. She began to drag the dead children and women to the cart slowly lifting them into the wagon one by one.

Petracles saw Xena carrying bodies and throwing them into a wagon and he scoffed. He sheathed his sword and marched over to his woman. He folded his arms as he watched her drag the bodies to the wagon. She seemed so focused on what she was doing, but the question was why was she doing it?

"Xena, what do you think you're doing? They're dead," he chuckled at the sight of her helping the dead.

Xena groaned as she lifted a woman into the wagon and wiped her hands on her leather armor. She smiled sarcastically, "care to help me?" she uncovered a young boy from the rubble and he was so young, too young to die. She instantly thought of Solan, that could have been him if she hadn't given him away all those years ago, but those years had yet to come since she had been transported back into this nightmare. She picked the boy up into her arms and gently placed him in the wagon. She brushed the hair from his face and turned away no longing wanting to look at him further.

"you got a staring problem," Xena gathered and brushed passed her once lover. Petracles then immediately grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her towards him. She stiffened and tried to pull away but it seemed she was not strong enough, not yet. She was too young in this body, if she were just a few years older, a few years more experienced she'd have his testicles for breakfast. "Let go of me, Petracles."

He scoffed as he stared at her icy blue eyes and let go of her taking a generous step backward. Xena then grabbed a torch and lit it from the nearby burning rubble and marched towards the wagon. Petracles' eyes widened and he yelled, "whoa what are you doing now?"

"They deserve a funeral," she lit the wagon on fire after she placed a blanket over their bodies. "this will have to do." She stepped back and watched the wagon burn rapidly and she covered her nose from the stench.

Petracles came up to Xena and touched her shoulder, "they are just simple villagers you know," he smiled hoping that would bring her back from her odd mannerisms.

Xena turned her head and stared at him then punched him square in the face and kicked him to the ground. He held his nose as it was bleeding and most likely broken from the blow. "They were children, Petracles! Children! You killed them all and for what? Power? Money? You're pathetic." She stomped on his chest with her boot and hastily left the village away from the fire and burning body smell.

* * *

In the evening Xena found herself back in this wretched tent once again. She shook her head as she looked at the tent. This would be the beginning of many long days in tents and traveling. She would stop at nothing back then, and soon she would continue onward meeting Borias, obtaining an army and soon an empire. _By the gods what have I done to myself_? Xena pondered on what to do next, she knew she wasn't and couldn't...stay here forever. Whatever was going on was sinister and she knew it, but why would this happen to her? Why her and why now? Her life was ever changing but always difficult. She could never catch a break it seemed.

She was sharpening her dull sword as she had a lot of time on her hands and nothing else to do in this place. Sighing she racked the stone against her blade many times over and flipped it over occasionally to sharpen the other side. Her eyes were focused on her blade until she heard someone step into her tent, of course it was Petracles. She could never bring herself to the realization that she actually was in love with this man at one point. He was annoying to her now, although seventeen on the outside, on the inside she was very experienced and much older and wiser.

"What do you want now?" she asked still sharpening her blade ignoring his presence.

Petracles sat on the bed next to her and began rubbing his thumb against her thick thighs. Xena stopped sharpening her blade and rolled her eyes. She pointed the blade towards him and he backed away slowly.

"You're in a mood today, aren't you?" he laughed and pushed the blade away from his neck.

"I've been in better moods. Why have you come to disturb me? Is it sex you want because as you can see...I'm not in the _mood_ ," she smiled and continued sharpening the blade once more.

Petracles sighed, "well I wasn't going to be blunt about it, but alright. What's gotten into you? The other day you couldn't keep your hands off of me now...you"

"can't stand the sight of you? Yeah that happens with mood swings, get used to it," Xena saw her reflection in her sword and set it aside standing up to change her clothes into something more suitable for sleeping. She assumed that Petracles was going to sleep in the same bed as her and she didn't want to be naked so she looked for a long tunic or gown of some sort.

He started taking off his boots and then pulled out a bracelet from his pocket. He turned back to see Xena rummaging through her chest of clothes on the floor on the opposite side of the tent. He held the bracelet in his hand and then tucked it back into his pocket and took off his armor throwing it aside. Now completely unclothed he stood waiting for Xena as well.

She stood up and finally found a long gown, although it was very sheer and white it would have to do. It didn't leave much to the imagination but she couldn't complain. Turning around she saw Petracles was now fully exposed and running his fingers through his long wavy brown hair. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and looked away.

"ah...could you turn around I'm going to change," she said hoping that he would obey her command but he stood there not moving a muscle. _Fine, it's going to be like that then._ Xena sighed turning around and stripped herself of her armor and took off her pants leaving her backside exposed. She was sure that he was enjoying that view, better than the front she supposed. Suddenly a wave of nausea was hitting her again and she groaned not wishing to deal with this again. It had been bothersome all day and she didn't want to deal with it again. Although she knew that feeling all too well later in her life, not long after Petracles left her, which she knew would be coming soon if this nightmare played out like it did so long ago.

Finally she changed into the sheer gown that had long sleeves and dragged on the floor beneath her. She unsheathed the covers and they both stared at each other for a long while. "You first, I insist," Xena gestured for him to get in the bed first and Petracles had a very mischievous smile on his lips as he slipped underneath the animal skins and black sheets.

"You going to kill me or something?" he chuckled and made himself very comfortable in the bed.

"Maybe," she mumbled as she slipped under the sheets and turned around not daring to face him.

"What was that?" he asked unsure of what she had just said.

Xena shook her head, "oh nothing," she rested her head on the pillow and wished that sleep would overcome her but it appeared that was not going to happen. She suddenly felt his hand creeping up on her body under her gown touching her stomach then traveling up to her breasts. She turned around and frowned, "what do you think you're doing?" she said with wild eyes.

Petracles saw the fire in Xena's eyes and that only made him more excited. He kissed her shoulder with a very smug smile as he cupped her breast softly. Then Xena grabbed his hand tightly and sat up in the bed. He winced at her grip and she grimaced.

"I told you I wasn't in the mood for this, it's bad enough that I..." she stopped herself for the moment. She began to think how this all ended for her and it ended rather horribly so she decided if she would change her fate here then maybe things will change in the future for her.

She let go of his wrist and he sighed, rubbing his wrist, "gods Xena!" he breathed out slowly and moved away from her in the bed. "You were saying something?" he said through his slowed breaths.

Xena halted and then sunk down into the covers staring at the tent's ceiling, "nothing, forget it." she turned over once more and closed her eyes. She figured that was going to be the last time that he was going to touch her for the evening, thank the gods.

* * *

Ares watched Xena in the bed and she was sound asleep once again. He threw a fireball at the wall and the three Fates gasped at his sudden rage. He started to pace back and forth staring at the portal, rubbing his chin in thought. "this isn't going as planned. She was supposed to tell him! But no...she has a conscious now...that damned Gabrielle. I swear by Zeus that I will get rid of her some way...somehow."

He stared at the Fates who were threading the giant spinning wheel and had Xena's life line in their hands. "How much longer until she cracks?"

One of the Fates stared at Ares and felt Xena's thread in between her fingers, "she is not weak, but strong. Life is within her, she knows it. She has played this game before..." her voice trailed off.

He groaned, "you speak in riddles woman! What good are you to me if you cannot see what she is planning to do next? The whole point of me sending her back here was to..."

"to experience her past again as a warlord yes War God, we know..."

"We know..." another Fate chimed in.

"We know _all_ ," the littlest one said at last.

The eldest Fate spun Xena's thread into the wheel carefully, "she is not hardened as once before War God...you know this to be true..."

Ares sighed, "well she might do something in the morning, let's wait and see. Xena...don't betray me now, I need you." He stared into the portal at the slumbering warrior queen.

* * *

Xena woke up with a slight headache and felt a cool breeze in the tent. She turned over to see Petracles was still asleep, thank the gods again. She was starting to think that she should have prayed to the gods more often especially right now. She sat up swinging her legs to the side of the bed. Rubbing her temples she got up and wiped the sweat off her brow. She remembered this feeling before when she was in the tavern with her mother. She was constantly sweating and very ill, but now that she was here and completely aware it all made sense to her. At seventeen back then she didn't understand but now that Xena knew what was going on, it was clear. And she would have to go through that loss again, all over again but since she knew what the Fates had decided for her she knew she had some time...some time, as if she had all the time in the world.

She reached for a wine skin and drank from it, thinking it water but it was wine from the night before. She instantly spit it out and began coughing violently. Petracles woke up to Xena's hacking and he sat up in bed worried something had happened to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked and got out of bed, rubbing her shoulders with his strong hands.

Xena waved her hand dismissing him as if one of her servants in her palace. Her coughing attack ceased and she threw the wine aside wiping her mouth. "don't you ever keep any water around here?" she breathed heavily irate at him now.

Petracles wrapped a cloth around his lower half and went outside of the tent to fetch some water for her. He brought back a ladle of fresh water and she downed the liquid instantly. "Wow, thirsty?" he smiled.

Xena frowned and shoved the ladle back into his chest and held her head in her hands feeling her head pounding even more now. She sat down on the bed hoping that her dizziness would subside. Petracles knelt down and touched her cheek with the backside of his hand. She snatched her face away from him, his touch was making her even more ill than she felt right now.

"Perhaps you need a physician?" he proposed hoping that she would agree.

Xena remembered when she told Petracles and this is not how she remembered it..something was off, perhaps her attitude had changed everything? She was altering her past life and it was not intentional so she didn't know where to go from here, but she thought since things weren't working in her favor at the moment or ever in fact...she obliged to his offer. _Whoever sent me here...I know my life better than you._

* * *

In the early afternoon Petracles was able to find someone with applicable skills as a healer and Xena agreed for the woman to examine her. Although she already knew what was wrong with her she didn't wish to spoil the moment, the moment that never came. The moment that ruined her young life and was soon to ruin it again a few years later.

Petracles was now in his battle armor and waited outside of the tent for the healer to come out of the tent. She had been in there for a very long time and was unsure if she were to be trusted. Finally she came out of the tent with a worrisome face but an apprehensive smile as well.

"Well? What did you find? Something to cure her ridiculous behavior I hope," he jested and some of his men in the near distance laughed at his joke. They often found Xena to be too bossy and sometimes too hasty when it came to making decisions. They did not dislike her or like her either, but she was seen as a mere pawn in Petracles' men's eyes.

The woman smiled and then looked at the men around Petracles, "she'll be fine. Just make sure she drinks this every morning and it should cure her illness." She handed him a bag of herbs and Petracles seemed perplexed at this. He gave the woman the money he promised earlier, which wasn't much but they didn't really have a physician on hand.

"She's sick?" he actually felt worried about Xena for once. He didn't think he could care for a woman like her. After all he was just using her and he saved her from a potential marriage to that man Maphias, but that was only a ruse. He wanted more from her, he wanted to conquer lands with her, not build a relationship with Xena. He wondered if he was getting too involved with her and too quickly. It had only been a few months since they left Amphipolis. He thought she may have been missing her mother and home so that's why she was being so strange but now that the healer was here and said she was ill, this worried him. He felt the bracelet in his pocket once more and then marched into the tent to find Xena lying on the bed with a smug smile on her face.

He held the bag of herbs in his hand and cleared his throat, not sure what to say, "the healer said you need to drink these every morning. You're sick?" he asked in a quieter tone.

Xena sat up on the bed, covering her body with the black sheet. This was proving to be better than her first encounter many years ago. For once in this nightmare she felt in complete control and she had Petracles at her beck and call. She smiled at his worrisome face. _Oh you care for me? How surprising_.

She immediately thought of Gabrielle and what was happening to her right now. Children, so many children in her village and they would die because of her. Because she was angry at Petracles, no that wasn't going to happen. Not again so this time Xena wanted to make sure that her words would speak in riddles, teasing Petracles...softly.

Xena crawled on the bed and pulled Petracles close to her and she began undoing his pants kissing his hand softly with a devious smile. She had the advantage here and this time she wasn't going to be taken advantage of, not this time and whoever was watching knew exactly what she was doing. _I have you now, you bastard._

"You...are you sure you're sick? That healer must have been...a quack," he saw Xena kissing his abdomen gently and he saw her eyes narrowing as her smile grew wider. He smiled at her and ran his fingers through her raven hair.

Xena grabbed a hold of his waist and flung him around and pushed him into the bed. She was now on top of him and she took off his cape and threw it on the floor and began unbuckling his chest armor. She knew exactly what she was doing and this time Petracles was going to be the pawn and she was to be the queen in this game. She threw his chest armor aside and ran her fingers along his chest, kissing his neck slowly and surely. Still in the gown from last night she was very aware that he was able to see every crevice and assets of her body.

She pinned him to the bed and was now inches away from his face, "that bracelet...in your pocket..is it for me?" she smiled. Since she knew how this was going to pan out she wanted to get it out of him. Xena remembered that Petracles presented it as a wedding gift to her not long after she left her village and her brother died, which would have been now, except...time has changed. Things were playing out differently and she rather liked this. Perhaps she could change her future and make it better...or maybe worse. She would never know until she tried.

Petracles breathed slowly trying to figure out what was going on here. He looked into Xena's icy blue eyes. He had never seen Xena act like this before. Just a few months ago she was just a regular village girl with a bit of fire but this...this was different. She was sensual..seductive..and yet enticing. He suddenly got the feeling that she was being deceiving. He did not trust anybody but how could he not trust Xena? She was just a waste of a woman in his life. He had many women in his life. He even saw women when he was sleeping with Xena, although she didn't know this. He had her wrapped around his finger although now..he wasn't so sure of that anymore.

"How did you know about that?" he asked in a firm tone.

She kissed his forehead, then his nose and finally his lips sensually. "I know a lot of things Petracles."

"Do you now?" he said between bated breaths barely able to keep his focus as her lips traveled around his neck and chest.

Xena's face now met his and she sat up still sitting atop of him. She took off her gown leaving her body fully exposed in front of him. She saw his eyes widen at this and he grabbed her waist, his hands traveled down to her hips and his grip tightened. Xena smiled at this although inwardly she wanted to throw up because nausea was taking over again. She learned to keep focus in battle during the worst times even if she was severely injured, she kept her focus never backing down and this was...battle.

She carefully grabbed a dagger that she hid under the sheets and traced it on Petracles' abdomen. He stiffened as the blade came in contact with his skin and she smiled devilishly. Xena felt her sense of power coming back to her then her head started to have flashbacks of Gabrielle again. Her mouth agape as she saw Gabrielle in her head talking to her with her soft words of wisdom.

_"you're different now Xena, I know you are, I can see it. Whatever you did in the past doesn't show who you are becoming now."_

Xena stopped as she heard those words echo in her head and she snapped out of her daze staring at Petracles still holding the dagger in her hand. No...not today. She threw the dagger like a dart and it landed in a wooden post that held the other weapons. Petracles looked to the dagger then back at Xena who was still sitting on top of his body.

She was so close to killing him but that would be unfair..unjust as Gabrielle would say. Xena didn't want to resort to violence to solve her past issues. She had kept this in the back of her mind for almost two decades as it didn't have any relevance to her now, but now as she stared at Petracles...defenseless, it seemed almost cowardly to kill him this way. He would have his karma, she thought. In time and time was on her side this go around. _Bless you, whoever did this_.

Now smiling she kissed Petracles' knuckles continuing to play this mind game. "Do you love me, Petracles?"

He fumbled with his words as she continued to tease him with soft kisses. "Yes of course I do."

_You're such a liar._ "Do you love children as well?"

Petracles eyed Xena and now he was truly confused. He smiled, "sometimes, I guess..." he couldn't resist her touch anymore and grabbed her hips thrusting them towards him. He pulled her body underneath him and kissed her lips.

Xena grabbed his hair and pulled his head back and smiled, but she knew he enjoyed this. Their sex was not as good as when she was with Borias but that just a different story altogether.

"you know...that healer was right, I am feeling rather ill," Xena began with a pouting face. She was sure her youth was enticing him as he was older than her at least by ten years. Although Xena inside was older and smarter, she knew how to play this fool. It was time to stop dancing at this.

Petracles looked into her eyes now concerned. He touched her cheek softly, "you are?" his voice had a bit of confusion put into it.

"Yes..." she kissed his lips sensually with a deceitful smile. She whispered into his ear softly, "...I'm pregnant," she now saw the look in his eyes and could only smile more. This proved to be much better than planned. She now had teased him enough, allowed him to be caught off guard not like it was the first time around. When she had told him this news many years ago it was after he proposed to her with that bracelet and he ended up leaving her, wanting nothing to do with her. But now, things were in her favor.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: I've changed a lot in Xena's life as you have all seen before. Be prepared for more changes. Enjoy, and thank you for reading and reviewing :)**

_Chapter 17_

Petracles stared at Xena beneath his body and had a shocked expression. His mouth agape and completely at a loss for words. The longer he stared at Xena the more confused he became. Xena still had a grand smile on her face, which puzzled him even more.

Xena ran her fingers through Petracles' hair sensually, taking in his shock. Absorbing it like an energy vampire. She began to think of what really happened after she told Petracles she was pregnant all those years ago, she was shocked initially as she was very young, only seventeen, but also afraid. Xena knew this nightmare wasn't all true as none of this really happened to her, but she was enjoying the fact that she was changing her own past somehow...she must figure out how to ultimately get back home, wherever that was. Xena didn't feel at home in her palace anymore. She realized that everything in time was at a standstill when it came to time especially if the gods were involved, which she knew that they were.

Suddenly Xena grabbed Petracles and flipped him so he was now underneath her and she on top of him. He looked around with bated breath still shocked and Xena detected fear in the man's eyes.

"You weren't expecting that were you?" Xena said as she toyed with her hair, twirling a long strand around her finger, smiling deviously.

He began speaking inaudible words until he finally spoke, "are you sure?" he felt like a child at the moment.

Xena laughed, "of course I'm sure I've been..." she suddenly caught herself, "I...have been ill for awhile now, you haven't noticed?" she casually grabbed her sword that was next to the bed and traced it carefully with her fingertips.

Petracles did not take notice of the large blade in front of him as he was extremely distracted at the moment. The thought of having a child with Xena was not the plan, having any children at all was not in his plan. He felt Xena get off his body and grab some rope. His eyes more focused now he asked, "what are you doing?"

Xena smiled and began tying his hands up to the bed post, "we're going to play a little game," she tightened the rope around his wrists and he winced. She chuckled and then sat on top of him again with sword in hand.

Petracles saw Xena admiring the blade and he never realized how much Xena liked weapons before. Has she always been like this or was this a new thing with her? He didn't know what had come over her. He stared at her stomach then back at her icy blue eyes, which were wide as her smile.

Xena winked at her once lover and then cut his bicep with the blade and he winced in pain. Blood began dripping from his arm onto the black sheets. "You like that pain?" she touched the fresh wound and licked the blood off her fingers. Suddenly feeling herself losing her sanity, her hatred coming back to her like a thousand man army coming towards her. Petracles would be the bate and the army the big fish and today Xena was the big fish, not the bate. No not again, she told herself. She would not let herself succumb to being a pawn in Petracles' life, today there would be no _life_.

She cut his calf with the blade, a deeper cut and blood began pouring out. She had his blood stained on her legs as well. Smiling she inched closer to Petracles with the sword at his neck.

"you see Petracles...I know what you're doing. You are just using me like an old horse nobody wants anymore," she lifted off his body and grabbed the handle of the sword, lifting it high into the air. "But now...you won't do it to any more young girls anymore!" she let out a loud cry and thrust the sword towards his exposed abdomen.

* * *

Before she was able to strike Petracles ending his life for good she was transported to a different place. Xena fell onto the floor and the sword slid across the rug. She got up, still naked and looked around at her new surroundings. _What in Hades is this?_

As her eyes scanned her new surroundings, something so familiar came back to her. She was in another tent, a much more lavish one at that, filled with a lot of gold, jewelry, finer clothes, gowns on the bed and a rack of weapons at the foot of the large floor bed. There was a table in the middle of the tent, on top of it filled with empty glasses and a water pipe. Xena felt so lost, more lost than ever before then she felt a hand come to her shoulder.

She turned around and saw Ares standing before her and she growled. "You?! This is your doing?"

Ares smirked, "Maybe. You were about to do something very horrible."

"Petracles deserves to die, Ares! What is your game here?" she circled the war god completely forgetting that she was still naked and he stood arms folded with a smug smile.

He laughed, "I'm giving you exactly what you wanted," he shrugged turning around to face her. His eyes scanned her body and exhaled softly, "you still got an amazing body, that I miss," he winked.

Xena looked down and frowned, now wishing that she were fully clothed again. "Where have you sent me now you bastard?"

"That's for you to figure out. You're a smart girl," Ares smiled admiring her body before him. Before Xena could attack him he disappeared and audible laugh was heard in the distance.

Xena groaned and picked up the sword throwing it onto the bed. She grabbed a gown, she recognized this gown, it was something she stole on an escapade in Carthage. Is that where she was right now? Wherever she was she was far from reality. She couldn't figure out what Ares was talking about. _Got exactly what I wanted? What does that mean?_

She heard a voice call her name and instantly her heart sunk. What kind of sick game is this? _Dear gods, what is going on?_ She recognized that voice and it was the voice of her other past lover, Borias. He was yelling her name from outside the tent.

Borias entered the tent and had a not-so-happy look on his face. He stopped in his tracks to see Xena was naked and holding up a burgundy gown to her body. He smiled, "it's that kind of morning then?"

Xena rolled her eyes and slipped on the gown, not wishing to go through the trouble to find something else to wear at the moment. She saw her hair was much longer now, almost to her waist like it originally was. _Perhaps I am not far from home then_. Xena then realized that she couldn't be close to home because this tent was something from at least two decades ago. Although she had left Petracles by now, what else has changed she wondered?

"Where are we?" she asked, feeling a bit stupid for asking such a question. She ought to know where they were but being transporting into yet another time was really messing up her time schedule.

Borias eyed her carefully. "Have you been on the wine again? We're in Potidaea remember? We arrived yesterday."

Xena felt a sense of worry. She knew exactly what time period she was in now. This was the time that she destroyed Gabrielle's village. No, she thought. _I must change this, once and for all_.

"Of course...must have been drinking too much wine..." Xena began pacing back and forth and then noticed something else very peculiar about this tent. There were dolls in this tent, probably from the children she had killed in the past. This was after Caesar had crucified her, but something else was wrong here. Xena lifted up the gown and found no scars or bandages around her shins. She frowned thinking something was very off about this timeline here. No scars..dolls..Borias. She couldn't wrap her head around it all.

Suddenly she saw a small child enter the tent, a young girl no older than three years of age. Very tall for her age and rather lanky for a toddler. Xena's eyes widened as the girl grabbed onto her legs with a bright smile. She had blue eyes and dark hair, very similar to hers. Xena felt a sense of fear overcome her body.

"Who's child is this?" Xena asked Borias who was staring at her. The girl continued to hold onto her leg and she tried to walk forward towards Borias. He had a shocked look on her face. He came towards the girl and picked her up in his arms.

Borias frowned, "did someone hit you in the head?" he touched Xena's forehead and she slapped his hand away. He shook his head and left the tent with the girl in his arms.

Xena sat on the bed thinking of what was going on here. _Who was that girl and why was she hugging my leg?_ Her thoughts were interrupted when Borias entered the tent again with his arms folded looking confused and yet annoyed at the same time.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Xena asked. She didn't want to be interrogated anymore. Nothing made sense and she was at a loss for words.

Borias poured a glass of wine and handed it to her. She waved her hand, not wishing to take his offer. "What has gotten into you?" he downed the wine and poured another glass for himself since Xena was acting so strange.

"Forgive me...I seem to be a bit out of place," Xena grumbled and stood up immediately looking for something else to change into. Borias watched her as she was rummaging through her own clothes. He knew something was a bit off about her but didn't know what it was exactly. He knew something was off when she didn't even know where they were.

He started laughing at her, "looking for something?"

She pulled out a black leather outfit with a matching pair of pants and boots. Perfect, she thought. She stripped out of the dress not really caring if Borias was watching. She was all too used to that. It was creepy and unnerving when she was with Petracles but with Borias, it was different. She began buckling her armor, tightening the straps around her waist and hips, making sure everything was secure.

Xena strolled out of the tent and saw many men surrounding her. She knew instantly where she was now, this was Borias' army and hers as well and they were going to sack Gabrielle's village for no reason. She now realized that the idea of destroying Potidaea was all hers and she felt horribly about it now that she knew who lived here. Gabrielle lived here _. I won't fail you this time, Gabrielle_.

Borias saw Xena mounted his horse and he yelled out, "why are you taking my horse and where the hell are you going?"

Xena frowned, "I'm going to settle a debt I owe someone. I'll be back by nightfall," she rode off over the hill and into the village, hoping to talk to the villagers again in a nicer way, less menacing. _Yes, less threatening as you'd say, Gabrielle._

Borias threw his hands in the air at his frustration with Xena. He had not known her for more than a year, but she always angered him by her spontaneous whims. The young child came up to him and tugged at his pants with a worrisome face. He looked down and saw the child had a pouting face similar to Xena's, although that was when Xena didn't get her way and that was never good because she was being manipulative.

"Where'd she go?" the girl asked, hugging her doll close to her chest.

Borias knelt down, brushing the long hair away from the girl's full cheek, "I don't know," he picked her up and walked back towards the tent where he and Xena slept. "We can wait for her here." He came into the tent ducking making sure not to his head on the wooden frame of the tent. He set the child down on the bed and took the doll from the girl with a smile. "You need a new one, this one is...not good," he saw the child smile softly and she suddenly got up from the bed. She gathered some Chinese wooden figures from a bag at the foot of the bed and lined them up in a row.

He sighed and sat down on the bed, pulling out his sword sharpening it, wondering what Xena's plan was. _Xena why do you do these things_?

* * *

Xena trotted into the village of Potidaea and she saw the villagers immediately had fear in their eyes. She sighed and got off the horse and handed the reins to a young boy. She was aware that this was not her horse, but it didn't matter. Something else mattered right now. "Take care of him would you?" she patted the boy's shoulder hard and he took the reins without question. He watched her walk into his village confidently.

She walked through the village and many eyes were on her and she heard people whispering things about her. She knew that they weren't good things, but she knew what to do this time and it wasn't to rape and pillage like she did in the past. Today would be different, she would make a truce with these people. Xena spotted the man in charge, she remembered his face instantly as he was the first to die by her sword.

"you!" she pointed to the man who was giving his son some money, "can I have a word with you?" she asked in a soft voice.

The man frowned, "didn't your men have words with us yesterday? We're not going to surrender everything to you." He folded his arms. And then a bunch of other men surrounded him. Xena was not intimidated but she didn't want to fight.

"I'm not here to fight. I just want to talk...can we do that?" she eyed the men around the old man and saw their eyes widen at this. Something even out of her character for her warlord-self, she noted this.

"Okay...so what do you have to say then?" the old man was still skeptical of this Xena woman. He didn't trust her.

She let out a loud sigh, "my men are willing to turn back. We won't come to your village again or in this area."

He started to laugh, "and you expect us to believe you? Do you think we are fools?"

Xena shook her head, "no...I don't think that. What can I do to make you believe me?" she pleaded, almost sounding like she was begging.

The old man looked to his men then back at Xena, "five hundred dinars, if you're true to your word."

_That's it, they just want five hundred dinars?_ "Done. I can bring it to you tomorrow morning," she held out her hand for a truce handshake. The man looked hesitant but eventually shook her hand. She smiled and then spotted a young blonde in the distance. It was Gabrielle and instantly she felt a warm sensation run through her. Xena left the men, brushing passed them hastily making her way to Gabrielle who was watering some plants in the garden in front of her home.

"Gabrielle!" Xena said loudly and the blonde turned her head completely surprised. She saw the frightened look on her face and backed away as Xena approached her. This Gabrielle was not strong yet, but a simple twelve year old and Xena eight years older than her. She noticed that Gabrielle was not willing to speak to her.

"How...how do you know my name?" Gabrielle asked in a shy voice.

Xena had to think of an excuse, and the best one she could come up with was, "I..heard your name being called earlier, from yesterday..." she hoped that would sound convincing to the young girl.

Gabrielle cocked her head to the side and was about to retreat inside her home. Xena saw her younger sister, Lila come out of the house, she was so young and she didn't know what happened to her all those years ago. Suddenly a feeling of guilt was overcoming her again. She hated this feeling, but she learned to embrace it and she is trying to right her wrongs here.

"wait," she called out before Gabrielle was able to go back to her home. Gabrielle stopped waiting for the woman to continue. "Many years from now, you'll meet me again." She knew this sounded completely insane and it was apparent that Gabrielle thought she was mad. "and...I just want to let you know...that I'm sorry."

Lila saw Xena standing in front of her house and she hugged Gabrielle from behind, "what is she doing here?" she asked in a small voice.

Gabrielle hugged her sister back and stared at Xena. Her eyes warm, but her stature intimidating. Something about her was so strange. She was not like all of the other warlords. "Nothing..let's go back inside, Lila." She walked towards the door and turned back to see Xena still standing there. She didn't know what to think of that woman.

* * *

Xena returned to the camp by nightfall like she said and dismounted Borias' horse. She entered the tent and found the girl playing with some wooden dolls and she instantly recognized them. Those dolls were from Chin. _What are those doing here_? She saw Borias drinking some wine and counting some money on the table as he sat on the floor. He saw her walk in and raised an eyebrow.

"so you're back..after stealing my horse. Where did you go?" he asked and suddenly the girl came running towards Xena hugging her legs again.

Xena was taken aback and saw the girl's smile and light in her eyes. She was a bit freaked out by this child running up to her every time she entered the tent.

Borias laughed and took a sip of his wine. "you act like as if you've never seen your own daughter before, Xena." He shook his head and continued counting the coins sliding them into a large bag on the floor.

_Daughter_? Xena peered down at the girl and then she realized that this child was the child that never was. This was the child she was supposed to have with Petracles. In the past, she never had the baby she surely remembered this but everything was different now. Too different, she gathered. The girl was still hugging her legs and then she knelt down taking a good look at the girl. She smiled awkwardly and stepped away from the small child.

Xena picked up one of the wooden dolls, "where did you get these?" she asked the girl.

The girl took the wooden doll from Xena's hand and tucked it close to her chest, "you gave it to me."

_Oh right, how could I forget that._ Xena smiled and squeezed the girl's shoulder and went to go sit down next to Borias. He looked at her and then finally put all the dinars into a bag. She looked back at the girl who was staring at her nervously, almost expecting her to yell at the child. Xena didn't know what to think of this child, she didn't know her, didn't have a reason to care for her at all, but she did. She reminded her of Solan, an opportunity that she missed when she gave him away as a baby. She missed his first step, his first words and this girl, she didn't know loved her unconditionally and she had no idea how to react to her. This was the first time she had laid eyes on the girl and she was a stranger to her.

"Do you want to come sit?" Xena asked the child and she saw a smile on her face. She walked towards her and sat down close to her, hugging her arm tightly. Xena looked down still feeling a little awkward, she smiled and thought this is what it would have been like, but she also had to remember that this was not real. None of this was, this was all Ares' fault. _That damned bastard_.

Xena focused herself on the task at hand. She needed to give those people the five hundred dinars she promised. It would have been nothing to her back then. She had plenty of riches it seemed and even more when she became an empress later on. She turned towards Borias and sighed, "I need five hundred dinars. I've promised those people that we would retreat."

Borias stood up irate at this woman. He groaned, "retreat? Are you insane?" he yelled. "this was your idea! And now you are making deals...without me?!" he began pacing back and forth and threw the glass at the wall of the tent.

Xena felt the child's grip on her arm tighten and she saw the girl's eyes widen, brushing her cheek against Xena's sleeve. She took the child's arm and smiled, "why don't you go play somewhere else?"

The child shook her head, "but I want to be with you," she said with a sad voice, her eyes filling with imminent tears.

Xena didn't want to see this girl...her _daughter_...cry. She didn't want to see children cry anymore because of her. She wiped the girl's cheek catching a tear. "just for a little bit, okay?" she reassured her and the girl nodded her head leaving the tent with her wooden doll in hand. She then frowned and narrowed her eyes at Borias. She stood up and punched him in the face and he was knocked back quite a bit.

"What was that for?" he rubbed his chin and stood his ground ready for another attack.

"you scared her because you were acting a fool!" she blatantly stated a little angry that he had shown so much of his anger over five hundred dinars. It was nothing to them. He shouldn't be acting this way.

Borias looked at her as if she were someone else, someone he didn't recognize. "Eve? I'm not the one who scares her, that's you," he scoffed and sat back down pouring more wine for himself.

Xena was repeating her future in this alternate world that Ares put her in. She scared those children in Athens, she scared all children. Becoming frustrated with herself she flipped over the table knocking over the wine and water pipe. Borias spilled his wine all over his pants and vest. Standing up wiped his face of wine and came towards Xena. She did not back down and lifted her chin, almost to say she was challenging him.

She held out her hand, "that bag, give it to me. I know there's more than enough money in that bag to feed that entire village." She stared directly into his eyes. A long silence passed between them. "Don't make this difficult Borias."

He pushed her backwards a bit and then picked up the bag but didn't want to hand it to her. He held the bag in his hand before Xena could grab it. "And what do I get out of this?" he smiled.

Xena didn't really want to do this. She didn't want to argue with Borias, especially right now. She head butted him in the forehead and he fell backwards, groaning, holding his head in agony. She knelt down and took the bag of dinars away from him and smiled, "thank you for this," and stepped over him exiting the tent.

As soon as she exited the tent she saw Eve, now that she knew her name this might become easier. She was sure Ares was laughing about now and would probably send her somewhere else as soon as this ends tomorrow morning when she gives the money to those villagers and to see...Gabrielle once again. Eve was sitting down next to the fire playing with the Chinese wooden dolls alone, surrounded by some other men, who completely ignored her and kept talking, drinking, laughing, carrying on with their conversations.

Eve smiled as she saw Xena come sit next to her and stopped playing with the wooden doll, sitting cross legged in front of the fire, copying Xena. "the dinars, did you get it?" she asked in her tiny voice.

Xena smiled at this child, she was very smart she could tell. She still didn't understand how this even happened, she supposed that this was a way to show her what could have been. But alas, her life in her palace was her life, this wasn't. She smiled at Eve and held up the bag, "yes I did."

Eve nodded her head as if she were content with this as much as Xena was. She held up the wooden doll again continuing to play with it.

Xena stared at this stranger child of hers and was instantly fascinated by her. The innocence in a child is always satisfying, they don't have to worry about the world around them until much later in life. Xena suddenly wished that she were in Eve's place at the moment.

"Are we going to leave?" Eve asked Xena.

Xena didn't think the child to ask such questions, but she figured since she'd been around war all her short life she moved around a lot. This was not a good place for a child, she thought. She didn't really have a clear answer for her, since she didn't understand this life of hers right now. "Maybe, I hope so," she answered hoping that would satisfy the child's question.

"Would you like to leave?" Xena asked in the spur of the moment.

Eve nodded her head slowly continuing to play with the doll.

Xena smiled nodding her head in agreement with the toddler, "me too," she felt an awkward silence pass between them. She never realized how difficult it was to talk to a child, but it was, especially considering this child was her daughter, her daughter that was never born. She didn't think of those times too often the older she became, but here she was right in front of her and she had nothing to say. It was as if it were the will of the gods that she was never born, but she now understood why the Fates had designed the life she currently had back in Athens. Everything about this alternate reality was a mess in her head that she couldn't figure out. _Why, Ares, why are you doing this to me_?

She thought she should at least say something else to this child before this reality would end and she didn't know when that would be. "Don't you need to be asleep?" she asked and Eve turned her head puzzled at her mother's question.

"I'm not sleepy," Eve stated.

Xena smiled, "what if I tell you a story? Will you become sleepy then?" she hoped so and held out her hand to the child.

Eve looked curious and grabbed Xena's hand, they walked back towards the tent and Borias still on the floor. He saw the two of them enter the tent and he was angry at Xena. She could sometimes be such a pill, but then he saw Eve was with her and decided not to become irate at the moment. He stood up and brushed past Xena, exiting the tent.

Xena lead Eve to the bed and picked her up, setting her down on the animal skins, taking off her small boots. It was obvious that this girl needed to be somewhere else and not here for sure. She started to feel bad for her and she barely knew her. She only knew her for a few hours. Xena sat down on the ground facing Eve who had a blank face.

"So," Xena twiddled her thumbs in her lap, "what is your favorite story?"

Eve frowned, "I don't have one. You never tell me stories," she said a bit confused at her mother's behavior towards her.

Xena sighed, " _oh_...well, I think I can put an end to that tonight," she smiled and Eve smiled in return. Xena was never good at telling stories but then she remembered Gabrielle. Gabrielle loved to write and boy she wrote a lot. She was more than a scribe or a vizir. So she decided to tell Eve about Gabrielle's adventure in Athens, but left all the gory details out of course.

After about half an hour later Eve had fallen asleep and Xena didn't get to finish telling her about Gabrielle. Xena stood up and picked up the toddler and set her in the bed, covering her with a blanket and she laid down next to the girl, leaning against the wall of the tent. She stared at Eve for a long time and couldn't even believe that she actually kept this child in an environment like this one.

"Mother?" Eve said in a sleepy voice.

Xena was surprised to hear this word, she had never been called this before and it probably wouldn't happen in her lifetime again. She looked down at Eve who still had her eyes closed, but appeared to be semi awake. She figured since she moved the child that it had stirred her awake.

"...yes?" Xena answered a bit hesitantly.

"Is...Gabrielle your friend?" Eve said barely above a whisper.

Xena smiled and covered Eve up with the covers some more as a light breeze traveled into the large tent. "Yes, yes she is."

"Good," Eve said and then yawned, turning over getting more comfortable under the blanket, moving closer to Xena for warmth.

* * *

The following morning Xena was startled awake for no reason. She sat up and Eve was still sleeping next to her. She didn't wish to wake her so she gradually slipped out of the bed grabbing her boots, lacing them up on the floor.

After a few minutes of lacing her boots she stood up, grabbed her sword and sheathed it at her hip. She was about to turn to leave until she heard a small voice call to her.

"Are you leaving?" Eve sat up, rubbing her eyes from the sunlight.

Xena stopped and sighed, turning to the toddler in the bed. She knelt down beside her and touched her touch, "yes I am leaving." _Probably for good_.

"When will you be back?" Eve was sitting in the bed now staring at Xena a little disappointed that she was taking off so soon.

Xena bit her bottom lip and immediately felt horrible. She didn't want to lie to her, but this was not permanent by all means. She kissed the girl's forehead, "I'll always be here. I need to leave now, alright?" She stood up and exited the tent, but grabbed one of the wooden dolls on her way out.

* * *

Later Xena arrived on horseback to Potidaea, the village of Gabrielle's family and friends. She dismounted the horse and saw a group of the men and old man at the entrance to the village, not allowing her to come any step further than them.

"I brought what you asked for and more," she handed the bag to the elderly man and he took it carefully. By the weight of the bag he knew that she wasn't lying. There was more than enough for their village to last two or more seasons.

Xena saw Gabrielle in the distance and couldn't wait to get back home. She was growing tired of Ares' game, whatever game that was, she had no idea, but she knew it was not good. She smiled at the villagers and mounted the horse retreating from the village without another word. She didn't want a thank you or a goodbye from anyone.

She rode over the hill and then was suddenly thrown off the horse, landing on the hard ground, hitting her head. Xena looked up at the sky, her vision blurred and soon she blacked out.

* * *

What seemed like an eternity later Xena awoke in a dark room, she couldn't see anything except a light in the middle of the room. She rubbed her head as it was pounding. Although she was grateful that she wasn't naked this time. Standing up she looked around the dark room, feeling an eerie sensation overcome her body.

"Ares, I can smell you," Xena hissed.

Ares came out of the darkness and saw Xena and started clapping slowly. "Bravo, Xena."

She felt her warrior coming out in her and her sense were immediately heightened. With no surroundings this was just a dark black hole, much like her heart. She stared at the War God intently.

"Why have you brought me here now? What is the purpose of all this?" she asked, demanding an answer.

"I was just giving you what you asked for, Xena," he smiled mischievously.

Xena lunged forward but ultimately missed him and growled. This was becoming irritating, she gathered. "What do you mean by that?" she asked in the darkness.

"you said, and I quote, 'if I had the chance, I would do everything differently'," he laughed out loud.

Xena remembered those words, she told Gabrielle that but she didn't want her life to become a game in a god's hand. "I'm not your little warrior queen, Ares. I never have been and never will be, why don't you see that? Do you like to see me suffer, is that it?" she asked and suddenly felt hot breath on her neck.

"On the contrary, Xena, I like to see the fire within you," he touched her shoulder, then his hand traveled down to her waist.

Immediately Xena kicked him in the groin and pushed him down onto the floor. "your plan...it doesn't make sense. Why did you make me relive my past like that? It was like I wasn't myself. I was someone else."

Ares stood up and frowned, "that Gabrielle is a distraction to you! She is ruining everything. She has ruined your warrior mind, your fire..."

Xena smiled smugly, "ruined it? perhaps not, perhaps she has made me think before I act. Something you don't do. Isn't that a surprise?" she added sarcastically.

"I can give you the most powerful weapon in the world, yet you want to sit and talk about Gabrielle. She's not that special."

Xena laughed, "oh and you are? Don't make me sick," she rolled her eyes.

"you made a deal with me, Xena," he smiled now. He could feel the rise in Xena and that sense of fire once more.

"No I didn't Ares. I don't want your stupid weapon anymore. I've dealt with enough pain in these past few hours...days," she groaned feeling emotionally drained because of everything.

Ares disappeared in the darkness again leaving Xena alone, "you can't remember can you?" his voice echoing in the distance.

Xena searched around and found herself at a loss. She couldn't win Ares' game this way. She needed to clear her head, he wasn't going to give her the answer, he wasn't that easy.

"I'll just leave you here to think," his laugh trailed off.

Xena sat down in the dark thinking to herself what he meant by that. She felt a rush of memories coming back to her all at once. Some of Borias, Petracles, Gabrielle, Eve, her mother, brothers, Solan. It was all too much. She began to hear all of their voices at once and the dark silent room was not helping. She held her head in agony, wishing for the voices to go away, but they only became louder.

_Just think Xena, think. Ignore the voices, they're not real_. "they're not real," she whispered to herself. The voices began to dissipate and she let out a exasperated sigh. Her hands traveled her coat she was wearing to see if _it_ was still there. She pulled out the wooden doll from her pocket and smiled at it.

She set it down in front of her, staring at it. She used this as a focal point so her thoughts would not wander off. Xena closed her eyes and began to think of that night Ares came to see her in the bathtub. Her mouth agape as her memories were taking over her body. She was picking out every detail.

_Why can't I remember?_


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: more interaction with Gabrielle in this as well as Ares. Now you finally get to see why Xena couldn't remember. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 18_

Xena stared at the Chinese wooden doll on the ground in front of her. She was on her knees, staring intently on the doll trying to focus her attention on Ares and herself when they were having a conversation in the bathroom together. Narrowing her eyes she thought that there was something missing, something that was blocking her memory. Closing her eyes tightly she sighed heavily thinking of that time. _Remember, Xena, remember_.

* * *

Ares caressed Xena's cheek with the backside of his hand ever so gently. He was surely using Xena to his ultimate advantage at the moment and whether Xena knew it or not, she was about to make a horrible deal with the War God. He kissed her neck sensually with a soft smile of his own as he saw Xena reacting to his gestures and touch on her skin. Lifting her out of the not so warm water, he carried her to the bed and placed her still wet body on the silk sheets.

Xena's eyes grew with excitement and then she grabbed Ares flipping him over onto his back with a grand smile. She was thinking to herself that she shouldn't be enjoying this, but she secretly was inside and did not want to show it. She ripped off his black armor and pants, throwing them on the floor without a care in the world. She smiled, as her lips traced his abdomen.

Ares grabbed the sheets allowing himself to become more distracted than he initially wanted. He was here on a mission, that was it. he also knew that Xena could be a snake and liked to entice men to bend to her will, but he was not a man, he was a god, a God of War to be exact. He looked to Xena now who was laying on top of his body, kissing his collar bone and shoulders. He never realized that she could be so gentle with her touch sometimes as he normally saw her as a warlord, which he loved. But the truth was that he enjoyed seeing this side of Xena in the bed with him.

He cleared his throat, stopping Xena from continuing further. He touched his fingertips to her full lips and saw there was a bit of apprehension in her eyes. _She wants to continue..interesting_. Ares felt like he was getting more out of this deal than he expected, which was great, he had longed for Xena to be with him, but he was not here to have sex with Xena. At least that wasn't part of his plan as he didn't know it would lead to this in the beginning.

"Ah..." he smiled, "we need to discuss the weapon," his fingers grazed her toned arms and needed to make sure that he stuck with his plan in enticing Xena to his whim. He wanted her to be on his side and he needed her to be clear headed, or perhaps it was better that she wasn't because he knew she'd disagree.

Xena grinned sensually, "oh yes...that. Must we talk about that, right now?" she pleaded, tracing her finger along his muscled chest causing him to quiver beneath her touch.

Ares felt like he was losing control over the situation. He allied with the Fates in this and needed Xena to understand what he was saying and not become distracted. The Fates were clear in what they wanted and truth be told that Ares did not really get along with the old bats but he needed Xena back, once and for all. She had been an empress for fifteen years and all those years he had tried to get close failed immensely. Xena took in many suitors and her favorite was Marcus, and he didn't want to share Xena with anybody, not even her son. He didn't hate Solan, but he felt like he caused quite a riff between his and Xena's relationship as of late.

He kissed Xena's head, running his fingers through her wet locks, brushing her bangs back to expose the beauty of all her face. He felt like he was the one being played at the moment and not Xena. Although he noted that oil he slipped into Xena's bath water had proved to work as she was completely unaware of what she was doing. He was rather sneaky, Xena knew this, but her senses have been off these last few months especially with Gabrielle right now.

"We need to talk about the weapon," he gasped as Xena kissed his jaw and slowly moved closer to his lips. "You want to be the most powerful empress don't you?" he questioned hoping that would get her out of this craze.

Xena stopped and looked into his dark eyes, inches away from his face. "I am the most powerful empress in the Greek speaking world, Ares. What more could I want?" she winked, revealing a sweet smile.

"Don't you want to have the world, though?" Ares asked distracting Xena once again.

An irritated Xena looked to the War God as he was interrupting this moment they were sharing together. Ares took note of Xena's face and realized that he may have stepped too far. A simple Olympian oil that he took from Aphrodite wasn't going to faze Xena's mind when it came to power.

He smiled and kissed her lips, "you have the world, you desire Rome..Persia...Egypt. You can have it all, but you must do one thing for me?"

Xena smirked, "and what's that?" she sat up playing with her wet locks, separating the tangled strands in between her fingers.

Ares smile grew as he now had Xena's attention. "Kill Gabrielle."

* * *

Xena opened her eyes, now everything was clear and she became irate at Ares' proposition. She couldn't kill Gabrielle, why would she agree to such a thing she wondered? Standing up in the dark room she called out to Ares with fury.

"Come out you bastard, I know you're here," she looked around and finally Ares appeared in the only light that was in the room. He stood beneath the light, folded arms with a smirk upon his face. She shook her head and came at him, reaching for her sword that she had sheathed earlier, it had suddenly disappeared.

"You did something to me, what did you do?" she circled the War God and he had a devious smile.

He laughed, "well that's my little secret. You did agree to my proposition so I guess," he sighed unapologetically, "you have to do it," he shrugged.

Xena shook her head and frowned, "I know you did something to me, I wouldn't just invite you into my bed willingly. I agreed to something that cannot be carried out Ares, you know I can't."

Ares laughed out loud at Xena's soft side coming out. Something he was not used to either. "I know a lot of things about you Xena, things that you don't even know," he winked.

Wishing not to know what he had to say she turned around picking up the Chinese wooden doll again. She saw Eve's face and immediately felt somewhat betrayed at what life she could have had, but would it have been better? She would never know. She tucked the doll in her cloak pocket and turned around to face Ares.

"You like that girl don't you?" he was now circling her, touching her long raven hair and coming very close to her body. He knew that was getting on her nerves, he wanted that. He wanted her angry, enraged.

"She's not real," Xena murmured feeling uncomfortable even mentioning such a thing. Everything that happened to her was not real. It was a perversion of her past life. Her past life was nothing like that, but Ares somehow turned it into something that she'd never forget. He made sure of that.

He whispered in her ear, "but she _could_ be," he hissed. He came to face Xena and saw a shocked expression on her face and smiled at her confusion. "I give you a few minutes of motherhood and look how you melt." He chuckled.

"Don't play games with me Ares. I'm not going through with your proposition, that's final." She folded her arms not wishing to engage in this conversation any longer.

Ares shrugged his shoulders and backed away into the darkness, "fine, if that's what you want..."

Xena turned around and saw she was left alone in the dark room. Exhaling deeply she finally felt relieved that he was gone. He didn't feel his presence anymore but what he said about Gabrielle. No, she couldn't do it. Gabrielle was a friend to her now, someone she thought she'd never befriend, but she slowly grew on her.

_"Is...Gabrielle your friend?"_

Eve's tiny voice echoed in her mind and she shook her head, feeling the headache coming back to her. She was going to never forget that moment, those false memories that Ares instilled in her brain. She closed her eyes trying to center her body once again.

* * *

Xena opened her eyes and she stood in her bedroom in the palace in Athens once again. She touched her body making sure everything was exactly where it was. Still wearing the armor she felt around for the wooden doll and it was still safely in her pocket. Taking out the wooden figure she walked over to her vanity setting it down gently close to the mirror. Realizing that it was morning finally she instantly thought of Gabrielle. Was she dead? Xena didn't know.

She exited her room, almost knocking down Racha who was carrying towels in her arms. She didn't have time to apologize. Racha watched Xena rapidly run down the stairs and saw she was wearing strange battle armor. She frowned and looked in her room making sure nobody was in there. Racha sighed and continued on with her daily chores.

Xena went to the dining room and saw Gabrielle very much alive eating some fruit and writing of course. She smiled and approached her hoping that she wasn't distracting her from her hobby.

"Gabrielle, you're here, you're alive!" Xena exclaimed with a huge grin on her face.

Gabrielle looked up with a raised eyebrow and set her scroll aside and put the fruit down back into her bowl. Her eyes scanned Xena's attire and noted that she was wearing armor, very strange she noted.

"Well...I hope I would be alive," Gabrielle saw Xena sit down next to her, which even for her it was strange. She blinked at Xena's sudden warmth towards her. "Are you alright?" she asked with a slightly confused smile.

Xena placed a hand on top of Gabrielle's and this rendered an even more puzzled look on the blonde's face. She looked into Gabrielle's green eyes and smiled, "It's just so good to be around someone normal."

Gabrielle grinned and chuckled softly, "did I miss something?"

Xena grabbed hold of Gabrielle's hand and pulled her along with her up the stairs. Gabrielle barely had time to react and almost tripped over herself in the process. Xena hastily ran up the stairs with Gabrielle in tow up to her bedroom. Once they were inside Xena shut the door and locked it making sure nobody would disrupt them.

The scribe huffed and put her hands on her hips, "Xena...wh.." she fumbled in her speech not sure what to make of the conqueror's strange behavior. Xena lead Gabrielle to the table and set her down in the chair as she sat across from her. She took a deep breath in not sure how to begin this conversation. It was all happening so fast and her mind felt more scrambled than ever in her life.

Xena smiled, "I was...sent to another world, an alternate timeline," she began. She saw Gabrielle's eyes wander around trying to take all of this in. she was sure that Gabrielle thought she was crazy. She didn't want to mention Ares so she left him out of the equation for now.

"I experienced my life in a different way. A life that could have been, a life that was so different than my life today," Xena sighed seeing that Gabrielle wasn't following her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked feeling a bit concerned.

Xena shook her head, "I'm fine, really." She smiled softly, "Gabrielle everything was so real. I had a daughter." She got up from the chair and went to the vanity to grab the wooden Chinese doll. Quickly sitting back down she put it on the table for Gabrielle to see that she wasn't crazy. "This was her doll that she played with," she scooted the doll closer to Gabrielle.

_Has she lost it?_ Gabrielle examined the wooden doll and had never seen anything like it. It definitely wasn't from Greece that was for sure. She eyed Xena who had a sorrowful smile on her face and now was truly confused. She thought of Solan and that was the only child that Xena had as far as she knew. Now she had a daughter? She wasn't really understanding this.

"I'm sorry Xena. You're going to have to start from the beginning," she sighed.

Xena didn't know how she was going to tell everything to Gabrielle without sounding like a crazed woman, but she tried. Over the next hour she explained everything in detail. She mentioned Petracles and the time she was engaged to Maphias and left him for Petracles after her brother Lyceus died. She also explained that she was pregnant at the time when she was with Petracles, a rotten mistake on her part. But then Xena told her next story of when she was transported to a later time, about three years later with Borias. And that was when she spoke of her little daughter, Eve. She had not known her for a long time, but really enjoyed her short time with the child. She was starting to think that was not a mistake, although leaving Petracles was a blessing in disguise but to have a child sired by him was totally different than her original life. Xena explained that this alternate timeline was unlike her original life all those years ago. Gabrielle now knew more about Xena than anyone ever did, which was rare for her to talk about her life especially to someone like Gabrielle.

Gabrielle stared intently as Xena continued with her adventurous story and seemed less confused but wondered if Xena had been dreaming all of this up in her head. She couldn't have been because the details were so finite that someone with a normal mind wouldn't be able to remember from a simple dream. And this reality was no dream that was for sure.

"So," Gabrielle began as Xena had finished her story and it seemed more like a Hercules adventure than anything else. "You didn't explain how it happened...who sent you there?"

Xena didn't want to mention Ares but she figured that she had to at this point. She frowned, "you know Ares, God of War, right?"

Gabrielle folded her arms and then her mouth gaped, "You know him?" she smiled and pointed her finger at Xena disbelieving her entirely now. "You actually _know_ the God of War? Xena..." she began to laugh and then saw Xena raise her brows with a very apparent frown.

"This is not a laughing matter, Gabrielle and yes I do know him...a little too well," she sighed, rubbing her temples feeling a headache emerging.

She saw that Xena was not jesting but actually serious in what she was saying. She could sense the stress in Xena's blue eyes and this concerned Gabrielle. She didn't want to see Xena under stress by some god no less. She sighed and scooted closer to Xena, placing a hand on her knee.

"So tell me more about your adventures," she smiled and Xena lifted her head, quite shocked at Gabrielle's words and non-judgmental mentality. It was very refreshing to be around someone like this. Xena didn't want to tell Gabrielle about Ares' proposition so she thought she'd keep that a secret for awhile, at least right now it wasn't that important because she wasn't going to go through with it.

Gabrielle spoke again as she saw Xena was in somewhat of a daze, she cleared her throat to knock Xena out of her thoughts. "You mentioned you had a daughter?" she smiled crookedly. "Can you tell me what she was like?"

Xena smiled as she thought of Eve. She didn't really have a true connection with the child as a mother, but in that timeline she was indeed her mother and by the looks of it, not a very good one either. She almost felt ashamed to think about that.

"She...she loved me," a grin growing on her lips while Gabrielle listened intently. "Unconditionally. She loved me unconditionally. I have...never known that kind of love before."

Gabrielle could not relate to this as she had loving parents and a little sister as well who loved her no matter what she did. Xena had so many lovers, but were all encompassed with lust and power. She had given up Solan when he was a few days old for her own selfish conquests but Gabrielle didn't think this selfish.

She grabbed Xena's hand for comfort, "you gave up your son," she saw Xena's eyes darken as she mentioned Solan but she pressed onward. "You said you did not have a good reason, but I think you did have a good reason."

Xena felt Gabrielle's grip tighten so she was unable to pull away, but the truth was that she didn't really want to. She missed her when she was off in that horrible nightmare Ares put her through. She missed her words of wisdom and let those words guide her through that nightmare, allowing her to clear her mind. To think clearly and make wise decisions. Xena did not want to mention that she was in Potidaea at the time when she saw Eve, but she felt she needed to. She owed her that apology.

"You wanted to give him a better life. That is probably the most unselfish thing a mother could have done," Gabrielle said finally with a smile and saw Xena's eyes lighten as she said those words to her. She realized that Xena was deeply hurt by doing that but Gabrielle didn't see it the way Xena did. Xena said she had no good reason, but she did. She saved him from so many obstacles and even though he became a Roman he was still Xena's son and he was safe.

Xena was not expecting Gabrielle to say such things. Over the last few months she came here she would have never imagined that she'd become close with this young woman. She truly admired her and her words of wisdom that seemed to just flow eloquently out of her mouth.

"During my short time spent with...Eve, I told her a story..."

Gabrielle's eyes perked up at this news. _Xena doesn't tell stories, what is this_? "I didn't think you a storyteller, Xena," she smirked.

Xena rolled her eyes playfully at the scribe, "I told her a story about you. I told her how much you like to write and how...different you were from others I've met," she felt a bit shy all of a sudden revealing this to Gabrielle. Her stature changed and felt she needed to close herself off. She didn't like talking about gushy things like this.

Gabrielle felt suddenly very proud of herself and straightened her posture to show her pride. "You told a story about me, eh? What did she say? Did she like it, did she like me?" she smiled eagerly.

Xena smirked, "she loved it so much she fell asleep," she saw her sarcasm, but true words that made Gabrielle lose a bit of fire that she had so Xena started laughing. "I think she would like you." She finally said to make up for what she had said before.

The scribe nodded at this feeling proud yet again. She didn't think that Xena would express such words to her especially since she was seen as a horrible conqueror woman. This side of Xena is a side that she would like to see more often, but she enjoyed seeing the fire within Xena as well. She was a fighter and did not like to lose which was a good quality to have sometimes.

Gabrielle hated to interrupt such a great moment but she felt Xena was leaving something out. "You mentioned Ares...he sent you into this timeline? Why?"

Xena didn't want to reveal what Ares said so she lied. "He wanted to show me what I could have had. He used to have a hold over me when I was young, young and power hungry. I told him I don't need him anymore and that angered him, I suppose," she shrugged.

It made sense to Gabrielle that Xena would pray to the God of War, it would explain how she even got to the position she was in now but it was apparent that Xena was much more than that now. She was different now and desired different goals. Everyone regrets parts of their past, but Xena was too hard on herself, Gabrielle saw this. Nobody deserved to be tortured for the sake of a god's pleasure.

"So, he just did that for...fun?" she asked Xena, unsure of what Ares had planned. She was sure this wasn't the entire story and Xena was keeping something from her.

Xena shook her head, "he has an unhealthy obsession with me, Gabrielle. Let us just leave it at that," she patted her hand and stood up getting undressed. It was still morning and she had many things to do, scrolls to sign, but somehow Xena didn't really want to do her duties today. What she needed was some sleep, something that she hadn't got in awhile. She wondered how long she had been _gone_ from reality.

Gabrielle saw that Xena was getting ready to relax of some sort and felt the need to excuse herself. She stood up and saw Xena slowly taking off the strange armor she had on. "I'm going to write a little bit in my room. Will you join me for dinner later this evening? And try not to forget this time," she smiled.

Xena smiled in return, "I will be there this time. I promise," she threw the armor aside and saw Gabrielle about to exit her bedroom. "Gabrielle," she called out in a soft voice. The scribe turned waiting at the door. "thank you for listening to me."

Gabrielle smiled warmly and closed the door behind her as she left. Xena grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her body. She then waltzed over to the table and picked up the wooden Chinese doll, cupping it in her slender hands. Eve's eyes were transmitting through the doll as if she were in the same room as her in this very moment. Xena then went to her bed, not caring if she had duties to complete. Those could wait. She placed the wooden doll on the bedside table and closed her eyes for a much needed and hopefully uninterrupted sleep.

* * *

Later Gabrielle sat on her bed writing about Xena's adventures on one of her scrolls. She told herself she would record everything. She tapped the butt of the quill on her chin thinking of what to add to what she had already written. Xena's story was very extravagant and certainly off the wall but Gabrielle was no stranger to such tales. It sounded like a story that she would tell the small children in her village when she was a young teenager. Smiling she dipped the quill in the ink and began to write.

As she continued to write the tip of the quill pen broke and ink splattered all over the parchment. Cursing to herself she stood up looking for another quill on her desk, rummaging through her belongings, tossing scrolls aside. Finally after a few minutes of searching she found a quill, an old one, but it would have to do. Gabrielle nodded and turned around to sit back down on her bed but was approached by a tall dark haired man in her room. She gasped and backed away slowly.

"Who let you in here?" she questioned a bit irritated that a man would just enter her bedroom unannounced.

Ares smirked at the blonde. She was short compared to him as he towered over her small body. _What does Xena see in you?_ "Don't try anything, just here to talk," he grabbed the parchment laying on Gabrielle's bed and read the first few lines and nodded with a wide smile. "You write about Xena? She's fascinating isn't she?" he winked.

Gabrielle snatched the parchment away from the War God. She rolled up the parchment and placed it on her desk. She didn't like just anyone reading her scrolls, she considered them sacred and very private. Xena did not even read her writings and she although wanted her to sometimes, she preferred they remain private for now.

"What do you want?" she demanded, folding her arms. She scanned his body and had an idea of who this was. She smirked, "I am guessing you're Ares."

Ares clapped his hands slowly, "bravo, blondie. Maybe you are worthy to Xena after all. You're pretty observant," he shrugged a shoulder, not the least impressed by Gabrielle.

He leaned against a wall and smiled, picking at his teeth casually. "So, I guess Xena didn't tell you about our little deal?" he proposed and saw the blonde's eyebrows furrow at this.

Gabrielle stayed quiet, making sure not to reveal anything of what Xena told her. She knew that there was more to the story but didn't know what. And she didn't want to find out from Ares. He proved to be quite devious and she had only laid eyes on him for a couple of minutes so far.

"Yeah," he stood up straight, "I didn't think she did." He shook his head, tisking quietly. "Xena, Xena, Xena. That sneaky bitch," he chortled. He came up behind Gabrielle, brushing his fingers alongside her neck. He smiled seeing the blonde quiver beneath his touch. She was quite valuable to Xena he knew this but perhaps she needed a dose of what it was like to be in Xena's mind.

"Do you enjoy being Xena's right hand woman?" he smiled touching Gabrielle's blonde locks.

Gabrielle turned around narrowing her eyes, "stop playing games Ares. I don't know what you want but I'm leaving," she hastily went for the door and then Ares abruptly closed it, locking it from the inside. She shook the doorknob and groaned becoming frustrated.

"I'm not quite done with you yet blondie. Don't you _hate_ Xena for what she did to your family?" he smiled as he saw Gabrielle stop in her tracks _. Aha, I hit a nerve, did I_? he laughed, "can't get rid of that hatred can you, Gab-ri-elle?" his smirk grew.

Gabrielle shook her head, "I forgave Xena for what she did. We're passed that now." She huffed and tried to open the door again, banging on it hoping someone would come to her aid.

Ares snickered, "forgive Xena? Really? Wow you're pathetic." He grabbed Gabrielle's arm and turned her towards his body. She began to revolt and try to get out of his hold but it was obvious that she couldn't. "Don't you want to know what happened to your dear sister? I can show you...I can help you," he grinned deviously.

"like you _helped_ Xena? I'll pass," she smirked.

He let go of her arm and sighed, "you women can be so stubborn sometimes. I offer help and you refuse to take it. Fascinating."

"I don't need your help. I am fine with my life the way it is."

Ares smiled, "we'll see about that," he suddenly vanished and the door opened finally. Gabrielle saw the door creak open and she sighed a sigh of relief. He was finally gone. She had gotten a dose of the God of War and she never wanted to experience that again. _What did you ever see in him, Xena_? She shook off that thought and sat on her bed contemplating what Ares had said. She had an inclination to not trust him and stuck with that.

* * *

Borias approached Xena's fortress easily as he slyly slipped by her guards unnoticed. He went to the entrance and saw two guards posted, he knew he wasn't going to be able to get in the palace easily at this point. He took off his hood and approached the guards.

The two men frowned at him and wanted to point their swords at him but resisted. "State your purpose." One of the guards said with a firm loud voice.

"I need to speak to the conqueror. It's private," Borias stated and tried getting passed the men but they blocked the way to the palace. He rolled his eyes not wishing to fight with anybody.

Gabrielle heard someone talking outside the palace gates and frowned. She leaned against the window frame and saw Borias standing there arguing with the guards appearing to look a bit disheveled. She didn't know why he could be here, but it must have been important.

She called out, "he can come in, I know him," she said to the guards. The two men looked up at her and Borias raised an eyebrow. She knew that he didn't know who she was, but the guards allowed him passage through the gates.

She quickly exited her room and went for the entrance and saw Borias walk in slowly and he saw her with a puzzled look. "Do I know you?" he asked.

She smiled, "not officially. I am Gabrielle, Xena's scribe," she nodded her head feeling proud of herself again.

Borias didn't really have time for formalities. He really needed to speak with Xena. He searched the entrance and then saw a grand staircase off to the side, which he figured that lead to Xena's bedroom. He knew he couldn't just walk up there, or perhaps he could. He smiled at Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle, right?" he asked and she responded with a nod. "I must speak with Xena, it's rather important so..." he grinned, "could you fetch her for me?"

Gabrielle was taken aback by this. Fetch Xena? Nobody just _fetches_ Xena. She sighed and relented. "Okay but I don't know if she'll come down here," she walked up the stairs in a hurry.

Stopping at Xena's bedroom she took in a deep breath afraid of her reaction. She knocked on the door and received no response. She thought that was strange and decided to just open the door, peeking inside to see Xena sound asleep in her robe, without the covers over her body. She didn't really want to disturb her as she realized she must have gone without sleep for days now, but this was urgent. Gabrielle crept inside and then saw Xena's eyes open immediately.

"Gabrielle?" she sat up a bit alarmed she would just come into her room.

Gabrielle felt a little embarrassed, "um, sorry. You have a guest that wants to speak with you."

Xena scoffed, "send them away, I do not wish to speak to anyone today," she plopped back onto her pillows and yawned.

"It's Borias," Gabrielle finally said and this caught Xena's attention.

She raised a brow a bit curious to see why Borias was here. Why would he come all the way to her palace to talk with her. This seemed strange and a bit out of place. "send him in," she nodded, now sitting up in her bed, leaning against her giant headboard.

Gabrielle went downstairs to get Borias but he was already outside Xena's bedroom door and she frowned. He smiled at her and brushed passed her closing the door behind him. He had never seen Xena's bedroom and took it all in. it was quite lavish even for her. He nodded folding his arms.

"You have done good for yourself Xena," he smiled.

"what do you want, Borias?" she was not in the mood for this play on words.

His eyes scanned the room some more and he saw a wooden doll on her bedside and that immediately struck him as odd. He frowned and hastily made his way to the table, grabbing the doll and carefully caressing all the fine carved details in the doll.

"Where did you get this?" he eyed her.

Xena stood up snatching the doll away from him, "none of your business. I doubt you came here to talk about a simple doll, Borias." She walked over to her vanity and set the doll down. She didn't want anyone else to touch it.

He stared at the wooden doll a bit longer than he should have. He remembered that from somewhere but couldn't exactly pinpoint it.

"Well?" she folded her arms, waiting for him to talk. Whatever it was it must have been important. Important enough to interrupt her precious sleep.

Borias nodded, "ah, yes. On the day of your ceremony...I was there. I followed you after you left."

Xena scoffed, "of course you did."

He sighed, "someone tried to assassinate you, Xena. I stopped him and killed him."

Her eyes widened. How had she missed this? This was news to her and she knew that Borias had no reason to lie to her so she was now a bit nervous and yet angry at the same time.

"Who sent the assassin? I shall eradicate whoever sent him!" she began pacing around in circles as her nerves overcame her.

Borias knew that this was not going to end well and didn't want to tell her but it was the truth. "Solan...he sent the assassin."

Xena stopped and growled, kicking Borias onto her bed and he groaned, cupping his knee. "you lie!" she yelled.

"You're insane! I would not lie to you," he winced as he sat up on the bed now staring at Xena's intense eyes. She was angry he could tell, but it was all true. He got the assassin to confess.

She shook her head and then hit Borias again, this time in the jaw. "How dare he? He cannot assassinate me! I am the empress of Greece, I am...his mother," she felt the words finally slip from her tongue. Her own child tried to kill her and this hurt her the most. It could have been anyone else, but it had to be Solan.

He saw Xena go silent and felt horrible for revealing such news but everything was true. He didn't know how to approach the subject but thought it was best to stay silent.

"What if I go pay the emperor a visit?" she smiled, tapping her chin attentively. "Perhaps he will try to assassinate me there in the presence of his dear uncle."

Borias did not like the sound of this. Her voice was silky and conniving. He did not like what she was planning in that head of hers. "Xena..."

"be gone with you, Borias. I have plans to make," she opened the door and waited for him to leave.

His eyes trailed over to the wooden figure once more and then shook his head. Before he exited he was inches away from Xena's face.

"Don't do something stupid," he said firmly and made a quick exit.

* * *

Gabrielle waited at the foot of the stairs and saw Borias exiting the palace in a hurry. She didn't even get to say goodbye and looked up to the stairs. She sighed and ran up the stairs and knocked on Xena's door.

"Enter," Xena's voice was heard from behind the door.

Gabrielle opened the door slowly and saw Xena with her pet spider, Zoe in her hands. "How did the meeting go?"

Xena smiled as she heard Gabrielle's voice. "Fine. We prepare to leave for Rome at once."

Gabrielle's eyes widened and now she was truly confused. _Rome? Again? By the gods, Xena, what is going on?_


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Xena's world is clashing inside her mind. What of Ares' plan? The weight of Gabrielle's future death weighs heavily on Xena's mind. Enjoy ;) thank you for reading and reviewing.**

_Chapter 21_

Xena brought her small army with her while traveling to Rome by horseback. She opted to ride the entire way and even offered Gabrielle a horse, which she kindly refused and decided to walk instead. They had been on the road for a few days now and by mid afternoon the following day they should arrive in Rome without Octavius knowing about her arrival. A new vengefulness came over Xena when she found out that Solan tried to have her killed. She couldn't wrap her head around her own son trying to kill her, although she figured this was all Octavius' doing and not Solan's. She was unsure if she was actually angry, she never thought she could be angry at her own son, but in reality she didn't really know what made her so mad in the first place.

It was nightfall now and Xena's men decided to make camp and a nasty thunderstorm hit them in the middle of the day, slowing them down tremendously. Xena's men were scattered around in tents throughout the forestry. Xena had a tent to herself and she sat in the middle of it with a map in front of her. Sitting on the floor she started marking all the cities surrounding Rome with a quill. A loud clash of thunder interrupted her thoughts. Sighing she threw the quill aside in frustration. She was unable to concentrate and allowed her anger to cloud her mind, something that would not normally happen.

Gabrielle walked into Xena's tent unannounced and wet from the violent storm. Breathing heavily it was apparent that she had been running through the storm to get to Xena's tent. Her tent was not far, but far enough to get her soaked. Xena instantly felt a human presence in her tent and her eyes turned to see a wet Gabrielle at the entrance.

She immediately got up off the floor and went to Gabrielle, taking off her wet cloak, throwing it aside. "I have some clothes for you if you'd like to..."

Gabrielle shook her head, "I'll be fine, Xena," her tone was firm and a bit annoyed. She saw the shock in Xena's eyes but averted her gaze, brushing passed her careful not to engage herself in a friendly manner.

Xena was a bit taken aback by her behavior but followed behind and then Gabrielle faced her. Her green eyes were dark, unlike she had seen before. The look on her face was one that Xena remembered from the first time they met and it was unpleasant. The blonde sat down on the floor and then took notice of the marked up map. There were lines and circles everywhere written on the parchment.

Gabrielle's eyes narrowed and she frowned, "Xena, what is this?" she pointed to the map. She received no answer, but a blank innocent stare. She smiled sarcastically, nodding her head, disbelieving everything. She had not known the reason for coming to Rome even though she had asked her during their journey, but now she knew why.

"Are you going to attack Rome?" she asked certain that was Xena's plan all along.

Xena played it off like she didn't really know what Gabrielle was talking about. "Gabrielle...please, you know me," she smiled artfully.

Gabrielle scoffed, "Xena, I'm not going to be a part of this sneak attack of yours," she got off the floor and grabbed her cloak starting to head out until Xena grabbed her hand, holding her back.

"I'm just...angry right now," Xena admitted shyly. She had never felt this way before. She had been angered many times in her life but this was a whole other feeling. It wasn't anger, it was guilt, shame, hopelessness, fear and everything else combined into one feeling. The only way she could express herself was to explain to her friend that she was..angry.

Gabrielle looked into Xena's eyes, they were filled with sorrow. She wasn't angry, she just needed an excuse. "Why have we come back to Rome Xena? What's going on?" she asked hoping that Xena would tell her.

Xena sighed, "someone tried to assassinate me, that is what Borias told me," her voice was hushed as she didn't want anyone else to hear. A gust of wind blew into the tent and the lantern's flame died, leaving them in darkness. Xena's eyes glanced around the darkness of the tent, adjusting her eyes easily. She suddenly felt like she was in another one of Ares' nightmare realities again. Xena let the darkness in once before in her heart, her mind, her soul, but she told herself this time would be different. She wouldn't let that same darkness come back to haunt her.

Lightning from Zeus himself filled the skies and for a brief moment there was light inside the tent and Xena saw not current Gabrielle but a much younger Gabrielle with long hair and a peasant dress. She blinked and backed away. She shut her eyes tightly and felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her body slightly.

"Xena?" Gabrielle's voice small, not strong and firm, but small and young spoke to Xena.

Her eyes opened and stared at Gabrielle and she was back to her normal self. She saw the worry in her friend's green eyes, but she couldn't look at her. She shifted her eyes elsewhere in the dark tent. Xena walked over to the other side of the tent, stepping on the map on the floor.

One of the guards came into the tent with a freshly lit lantern and Gabrielle thanked him, taking the lantern from the soaked man. She felt sorry for him that he had to stand in the rain outside of Xena's tent. The interior was now lit and she saw Xena standing in the corner, back faced to her. Slowly Gabrielle approached her and set a hand on Xena's shoulder.

Xena gasped and turned around to see the face of her friend that appeared worried for her. She felt like her eyes were playing tricks on her especially with the adventures she had earlier. She didn't want to tell Gabrielle about Ares' plan and she didn't plan to, but she figured that vision was a premonition to something, something horrible. She was seeing the past although she didn't know if it was real or part of the fantasy Ares had concocted. The longer she stared at Gabrielle she then realized that she was speaking to her but her ears had blocked everything out. She saw her mouth moving, but no sound was coming through her ears. It was all gibberish to her.

"Xena, are you alright?" Gabrielle repeated for the third time in a row. She didn't want to come any closer as she saw Xena acting rather strange. She was a strange woman, but her behavior was unlike her recently especially after what she told her about Ares. Gabrielle hadn't had the time to speak about Ares little visit in her bedroom, but she figured she needed to.

"Xena?" she called out again and finally got the woman's attention.

Xena blinked rapidly and folded her arms. "I'm sorry. It seems my past has come to haunt me again," she smiled coyly and went to her bed to sit and think.

"what did you see? You looked at me as if you saw a ghost.." Gabrielle sat down on an empty spot on Xena's bed next to her.

Xena brushed it off casually, "it was nothing Gabrielle, don't worry about it," she patted her scribe's knee gently and let her thoughts drift off.

Gabrielle didn't wish to press further although she really desired to, she held back. _For now_. "you said someone tried to assassinate you. Is that why we've come to Rome...you want revenge?" her voice soft and less firm than before.

_Revenge. I used to like the sound of that word, now I am just confused._ "no...I do not seek revenge. Revenge is not always as sweet as everyone says it will be." She shook her head, "I just want to know why." She sighed heavily.

"Why what?" Gabrielle pressed on, getting as much information as she could from Xena.

"My son tried to assassinate me," she frowned. Even the thought of it made her sick.

* * *

The following day the morning was bleak and gloomy. It was sprinkling now and Xena was sure that it would begin to rain again by the time they reached the Roman palace. She tread carefully on her horse with Gabrielle at her side on foot. They had remained silent throughout the rest of the journey to the inner city and did not speak much after Xena told her about Solan's plan. Gabrielle couldn't imagine that Solan would want to kill Xena, although he didn't know that she was his mother, it did not seem something that a boy would do. Perhaps it was a rite of passage to becoming a true Roman man. He was soon to be a young man, not a boy anymore. That was the only reason Gabrielle could justify in her head even though she knew it to be wrong.

In the afternoon they arrived to the Roman gates and Xena approached the palace doors with her men behind her. The sprinkling turned into heavy rain now and she wore a large Athenian silver helm donned with a big red Mohawk plume. The feather-like plume was longer than her men's plumes, reaching to her mid-back, indicating that she was indeed the one in charge.

The guards stared at Xena and her army behind her, decked out in Athenian armor and horses to match with decadent robes covering the horse's bodies. "Empress Xena, what brings you to Rome?" a guard shouted to her over the loud thunder and furious rain.

Xena smiled knowingly, "an audience with the emperor and his boy toy." She stared at the guard waiting for his response but received a blank stare. "I will wait here all day if I must," her smile widened. She knew that the guards had no intention of letting her in so she toyed with them, just for fun. The guards turned around ignoring her presence.

Octavius looked outside of his office and saw a small army of men at the palace gates and a plumed helmet that was recognizable. He knew it was Xena, squinting his eyes he saw her waiting there on her magnificent horse with her men behind her, waiting patiently.

He sighed and left his office brushing passed Solan who was about to come speak with him about Cleopatra and Antony, but he seemed rushed.

"Where are you going, I thought we had a meeting?" Solan called out.

Octavius held his hand up defying the boy's request. "Xena is here, I must deal with her," he groaned.

Solan felt his heart sink. _The Empress came all the way to Rome?_ He started to think rapidly at all of the possible outcomes of this impromptu meeting. Why would she come all the way here? He began to think of his assassin and maybe she figured out she was being hunted. Solan knew that Xena was very attentive when it came to those things. He felt nervous that she had arrived so suddenly. He was expecting her to come to Rome. Instantly he followed his uncle into the rain, immediately soaked stepping outside the palace. His short blonde hair wilting on his forehead and nape of his neck. He ran towards the gates, catching up with his uncle.

* * *

Xena smiled endearingly as she saw Octavius approach the gates in his soaked toga. "That was quick. Doesn't take much to get your attention does it Octavius?"

Octavius frowned and wiped his wet brow, "long way from home Xena, what brings you to Rome?"

"I thought I'd pay you a long overdue visit," she smiled.

The Roman emperor allowed the gates to be opened and Xena nodded curtly as she trotted passed Octavius, clad in black armor, her grand plume now soaked from the rain. Gabrielle saw Solan standing not too far away and instantly looked away. She couldn't look at him the same anymore, she didn't know what to think of him. Her eyes went to Xena and saw that she purposely ignored Solan's presence, trotting onward towards the palace entrance.

Awhile later Xena, Gabrielle and two of her best elite guards entered the palace. She handed her wet cloak to a maid as did Gabrielle. Her boots soaked as well but she did not take notice. Xena sauntered into the main hall and sat down, grabbing some grapes to satisfy her hunger. She figured that the emperor would need to change out of his soiled clothes so she insisted on making herself very comfortable. She was not here for war, but for... _conversation_.

Gabrielle took a seat across from Xena feeling a bit out of her comfort zone, she sat on the edge of the cushioned seat, making sure not to soil the expensive fabric.

"So...what is the plan?" Gabrielle asked quietly after a maid handed her a glass of sweet wine, which she kindly refused, although noticed Xena took it without a thought.

Xena bit into a strawberry and smiled, "patience, Gabrielle..."

Solan stood behind a large pillar watching Xena intently. He was sure that she was here to kill him herself. He began to think that going along with Octavius' plan to distract Xena was a bad idea especially since she was making herself comfortable in his living room, eating strawberries and drinking wine. He thought about the young assassin and wondered what happened to him. _She probably killed him with her bare hands! Or perhaps..strangled him to death._ Solan clutched his throat with his hand, feeling nervous and anxiety creeping up on him. He stared at Xena longer and then the two finally made eye contact. Xena smiled at him as she sipped from her wine glass. He averted his eyes and immediately felt his heart beating rapidly. Solan could still feel Xena's eyes on him and he didn't dare look towards her direction.

"Solan...why do you hide from me? I am a guest am I not?" Xena called out in a soft voice. She saw Solan come out from behind the large column.

Solan smiled nervously, "I can't believe you traveled through such a storm," he said lamely.

Xena sat up and saw that Solan slightly backed up, afraid of her potential actions. Her smile grew and she grabbed an apple, taking the dagger out from her boot she began to slice the apple. "I have been through worse storms, physically and...mentally," she took a bite of the apple slice, eyeing Solan.

Solan didn't really know what Xena meant by that and he figured it was his time to make a clear exit. Solan turned and then saw his uncle enter the room and knew that it would not be appropriate to leave at this time. It seemed that he would have to stay put and endure Xena's cryptic language. Octavius entered the room and saw Solan looking a bit pale. He noted that his behavior was rather strange since Xena was in the room, but he was not going to reveal anything to Xena otherwise things might end badly for them all.

"Xena, comfortable?" the emperor asked as he saw Xena sitting carving the apple casually.

She smiled, "of course. Your home is always lovely and welcoming, right Gabrielle?" she winked at her scribe. Gabrielle did not reply but simply nodded her head.

She was starting to feel like Xena was up to no good and noticed some old behavior coming back into play since they arrived in Rome. Her behavior was unreadable, unpredictable, and most of all dangerous. The longer she stared at Xena the more blue her eyes became. She was ready for a fight, physical or not she was going to have it.

Octavius broke the silence and sat across from Gabrielle and Xena, staring at the two foreign women. "What brings you here? Can't just be my lovely home, could it?" he jested.

Xena smiled, "oh no, your home is quite lovely, but you know...something odd happened a few days ago and I just can't seem to think of how this could be true," she trailed off enticing the Roman emperor. Her eyes went to Solan, taking a bite of the apple, very slowly. She saw his body tense up as she continued to glare at her son.

Octavius, playing innocent, he asked, "and what might that be, Xena?"

"I was told I was being followed by an assassin. And you know that's not even the strange part," she laughed, "the assassin was Roman, can you imagine that?" she smiled at Octavius, whom she saw tense at her words. _Good, be nervous, you swine._

Octavius grinned, " Roman assassin, is that so?" he played coy, taking note what Xena was doing. She was fishing for bait.

Solan sat far away from the conversing elites and sat by himself, watching the two engage. His heart felt like it was going to come right out of his chest. He wasn't sure what Xena was hinting at, but now he knew that she was going to kill him like she did that assassin. Sweat began to drip off his forehead.

Xena could feel the tension in the room and sensed Solan's nervousness from across the room. She thought long and hard of what to say next, it would certainly throw everyone for a loop, except Gabrielle, of course.

"Yes, Roman. My source...says it was from you, Octavius." She felt the need to lie, she did not want to target Solan. She knew he was innocent in all of this. This was just politics and young boys did not need to be part of such matters. Looking back in Solan's direction she saw he was shocked, pale and a bit sweaty. Inwardly smiling she turned her attention back to the fish.

Octavius chuckled, "I have no reason to kill you Xena. Your source seems to be a lying drunkard." He sipped from his wine glass.

"I was unaware that there were other Roman emperors," Xena chortled at her own sarcasm. Octavius knew what she had meant by that statement. Xena had caught him a horrid lie, even though she lied herself, she knew that she would win this argument.

The Roman emperor frowned as he knew this conversation was going nowhere and Xena was dancing around the subject. She knew and he knew what was going on. "You can't possibly tell me you traveled all this way to tell me about an assassin?"

Gabrielle watched the two exchanging back and forth and felt awkward sitting in between the two elites. She suddenly felt like Xena was becoming malicious and she didn't want that to happen. She decided to intervene, "no, we came to talk about Xena's new plans for Athens. We have come to discuss some agreements between Athens and Rome..." she eyed Xena and boy did she look annoyed. Gabrielle trumped on her revenge parade and knew that they were going to talk later.

Octavius eyed Gabrielle then Xena and smiled. _Well played, blondie_. "New plans? I've heard some of them. Gabrielle," he turned to her, "why don't we discuss them in my office?" he smiled deeply. _I can play that game too._

Gabrielle wasn't expecting him to go along with this charade, but looking at Xena's irate expression she thought it'd be best to leave the situation and go with Octavius. _I'm not wise tonight...tonight I am going to bullshit everything as Xena says._ She stood up gracefully, following the Roman emperor down the hall, staring back at Xena she was afraid what she might do with Solan alone. _What am I doing?_

Xena stared as Gabrielle disappeared into a separate hallway. The rain was coming down heavily now and the room was silent with just her and Solan sitting together, but quite a distance apart. A few moments of silence drifted between them and Xena couldn't be angry at him, she never knew him growing up and the least she could do was remain civil towards him.

"The last time I saw you, you were not clad in armor," Xena mentioned, sipping her wine.

Solan was jolted from the silence and finally noticed Xena was actually talking to him. He had never feared the warrior queen before, but he felt scared now, in this very moment. Her calmness only heightened his sense even more. He cleared his throat, showing no fear towards the woman.

"I have begun to train with the sword," he stated matter of fact.

Xena's eyes widened at this. She did not wish for Solan ever to become proficient in the art of swordsmanship. She never even wanted him to touch a sword and now...he is training and training as a Roman, not a Thracian. Annoyed at this she tried to contain her displeasure at this sudden news.

"What happened to studying in Athens?" she remained calm despite her irritation towards her son.

Solan sighed, "mother Rome needs me right now. Perhaps in the future," he smiled apprehensively. He felt Xena's angst on the other side of the room.

"What would your mother think if...she knew you were wielding a sword?" Xena asked, swishing the wine in the cup fretfully.

Solan focused his attention to the rain storm outside, "I don't have a mother and even if I did, I don't think she'd care."

"Yes she _would_ ," Xena replied immediately without hesitation.

This caught Solan's attention and gazed at Xena who was staring off at the rain, swishing her wine back and forth in her hand rather impatiently. He smiled and then starting laughing. Xena turned her head towards him and frowned at his strange sudden outburst.

"My mother gave me away, she didn't care about me," Solan shook his head. He hadn't thought about his parents in a long time and he didn't even know what they looked like or what their names were. The older he became he stopped asking Octavia and Attia questions about his parents since they didn't know the answer. Attia told him when he was eight years old that two travelers found him on the side of the road when he was a babe and brought him to the House of Julli in hopes that they'd take him in as an adopted son. Solan thought himself lucky throughout his life. He could've been sent to an orphanage, but he was raised here in a Roman royal household with the Roman emperor. He couldn't have been happier, but he stopped asking questions a long time ago. Now that this was brought up he felt angry about it.

Xena stopped swishing her wine as soon as Solan spoke those hurtful words. She felt like she had been stabbed in the heart and the worst part was she couldn't say anything about it. she wouldn't allow herself to. She sighed, "you shouldn't say such things about your mother."

Solan stood up now irritated at Xena for allowing this conversation to continue. He huffed and folded his arms staring at the warrior woman. Xena blinked at his stance. It was rather unexpected. "If she cared about me why didn't she keep me?" he stared at Xena and then realized this conversation was hopeless. He scoffed, "never mind. I'm going to go spar somewhere," he was about to exit but then Xena stopped him in his tracks.

_I'm sorry Solan, for everything._ "What if I told you that I knew your mother?" she saw Solan halt in his step and then added, "and your father too."

Solan turned and smiled disbelieving this woman. He almost wanted to spit at her feet, "then I'd say you were lying."

Xena stood up walking towards the blonde teenager. He didn't back away nor did he embrace her either. "I know a lot of people, Solan. I am an empress after all," she smiled breaking the awkward silence. _Now, I'm going to lie to you some more_. She felt her heart drop when she tried to put a hand on his shoulder and he flinched. Smiling she retracted her hand, "I know that your mother wanted a better life for you as did your father."

Solan somehow wanted to hear more but he knew if he asked questions that he'd be disappointed in the end. "do you know if they loved me..my parents, I mean?" a question suddenly blurted out of his mouth. Even he was surprised at this.

Xena smiled, "I know they did, very much and that's why they sent you away, to give you a better life _." I wanted to give you a better life._

Solan nodded, sort of satisfied with the answer Xena gave him. "I've always wanted to meet them."

"Maybe one day you will be given that chance," Xena reassured him. She hoped that one day she would be allowed to tell him the truth and he would probably hate her, no more than she hated herself.

* * *

Later in the evening Octavius allowed Xena to stay in the empty guest quarters as the storm was unlikely to pass until morning. Xena laid in the bed, admiring the marble tile and columns. She blew out the lantern and turned on her side, eyes wide open staring at the falling rain outside the large windows in the bedroom. The curtains gently flowing against the breeze traveling into the room. Xena always liked thunderstorms as a child as they put her to sleep but tonight she felt sleep would escape her as it did so many nights before.

Gabrielle crept into xena's room closing the door behind her and jumped on the bed, alarming Xena. "Sorry did I wake you?" she asked in a whisper.

Xena shook her head, "afraid not," she turned over once more, her back facing Gabrielle.

"I have something that you might find valuable." She insisted but Xena was not listening, nor did she want to talk politics right now. Her act of revenge had backfired immensely since Gabrielle foiled her plan. "Xena?" she called out.

"Can this wait until tomorrow?" Xena pleaded in a soft voice. She felt emotionally drained after the conversation with Solan and didn't wish to delve into more nonsense this evening. It was probably past midnight already and she had yet to fall asleep.

Gabrielle sensed the sorrow in Xena's voice and crawled over her body onto the other side of the large bed. She stared at Xena and she seemed entranced with the rain storm outside, completely ignoring her presence. "Are you alright? Is this about me talking to Octavius? Look, I just want you to do something you might regret later..."

Xena sighed, "Gabrielle," her eyes met the ones opposite of hers. "you talk too much." She nestled back into the pillow staring at the rain again.

Gabrielle thought it'd be best to jest her way out of this one, "well, I already know that. It's one of my best qualities," she smiled. She hoped to receive a sassy response from the conqueror but instead she got silence. Her smile died and now became more concerned about Xena's wellbeing. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked kindly, laying a hand on Xena's shoulder.

"No, not really." Xena responded and saw Gabrielle get off the bed slowly and make her way for the exit. "Gabrielle," she called out and heard her footsteps come to halt. "Would you stay...in here, with me?"

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow at this, she never wanted anyone in her room and thought it strange that she asked this of her. She couldn't really refuse though. _I am your friend, Xena_. "Sure," she waltzed over to the bed and laid down a good distance away from her body, curling up in a fetal position, staring at Xena's backside. She felt Xena move in the bed and now the two were facing each other. Gabrielle's eyes stared into Xena's blue eyes. Xena revealed a small smile, and Gabrielle returned the smile.

"Did you bore Octavius to death with your philosophical bullshit?" Xena joked.

Gabrielle smiled, laughing softly, "something like that." She yawned and started to close her eyes, nestling into the soft pillow.

Xena stared at Gabrielle, a gentle breeze blew into the room. Her blonde locks swayed gently along her forehead and side of her face. "Gabrielle," she whispered. The blonde simply replied with an inaudible mumble. She smiled, "goodnight."

* * *

_Athens_

Marc Antony and Phraates rode into Athens hoping to see Xena, but she was not even in her extravagant palace. Antony had devised a plan with Cleopatra but needed Xena to accompany him and his Persian counterpart. They stood on their horses in front of Xena's grand palace and felt foolish for standing here as Xena was nowhere to be found. Her guards did not tell them where she went, of course.

"The Thracian witch isn't even here," Antony exclaimed.

Phraates unwrapped the scarf around the lower half of his face and frowned, "so what now?"

Antony turned his horse and exited the palace grounds, passing by Xena's arrogant Greek guards. "We wait for her," he stated and trotted off in a tantrum. The Persian emperor caught up to Antony and trotted alongside him.

"What if Xena does not agree to come with us? It's not like she is our ally anymore," he admitted. He did not feel bad that he went back on his deal he made with Xena to ally with Marc Antony against Octavius. He had plans too and wanted to rule Xena's occupied territories.

"Oh she will come," he smiled, "Krytus, you still have the prisoner?" he called out to one of his elite generals with a smirk. Phraates did not know how this was going to get Xena's attention but he did not question Antony's methods.

Krytus pulled the prisoner who was attached to chains. He flung him forward and the prisoner was now on his knees, breathing heavily, not staring at Antony or Phraates.

"you plan to entice Xena with...a _man_?" Phraates mocked, "that woman could swing both ways, I swear to God." He laughed.

Antony took the chain that was wrapped around the man's neck and pulled him up so he could take a good look at him. He smiled, "Hungarian," he huffed, "hmph, I never thought Xena was that adventurous," he smugly grinned.

Borias frowned, "Xena would have you crucified. Roman scum," he spat at the boot of Antony.

"We'll see about that, Hun," Antony smiled and tossed the chained Borias back to Krytus.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: I thought this moving rather slowly so this chapter is more fast paced. Prepare yourselves. Fast update and enjoy everyone ;)**

_Chapter 20_

Xena's eyes opened to yet another gloomy morning. The smell of old rain filled the room, though the air was still, no breeze fluttered against the curtains nor in the trees. She turned her attention to her sleeping companion next to her and saw Gabrielle was very much asleep. Swinging her legs over to the side of the bed she stood up, making sure not to disturb the blonde scribe. Her eyes wandered over to the slumbering young woman, watching her chest gently rise and fall, mouth slightly agape, curled in a fetal position beneath the covers. Gabrielle was more than a scribe to her now, she was a friend. A friend whom Xena hurt a long time ago and just recently when she bought her as a slave. Xena could not believe that so much has happened in the last three months since they had met. Somehow she felt as if Gabrielle was the missing puzzle piece in her dark life. She had so many opportunities to make it right with her kingdom, her people, her family, but she didn't.

She did not wish to change anything, she initially thought that becoming an empress was great and she'd have anything she desired. But unfortunately as years went by her desire to rule all of the Mediterranean slowly came to a fight of boredom. She grew tired of fighting with politicians, emperors, princes and her own Athenians. Her people never liked her and even a few months ago, she would not have cared. Xena was realizing that Gabrielle had come into her life to save her from delving further into the darkness. Her path had not always been about fighting, pillaging, conquering or even ruling. Xena forgot that she was once like Gabrielle and all the patrons in Athens. She forgot how to treat people like human beings until Gabrielle brought her into the light.

The empress knew that she was nonredeemable in the long run but the few changes she made in her empire would serve her well. The changes that were made affected all of the citizens in a positive way. Their lives were looking up, while hers diminished with every step. Xena was beginning to wonder if her live was more like a Greek tragedy than a normal human being's. Every turn there was something wrong, something disastrous, something new. It was never a dull moment in her life and she once liked that unpredictability about her life, but now it was more of a nuisance. For once in her life she wanted something to go right, something to go smoothly, but she knew that she was imminently cursed and would never have that right as a person or as an empress.

She began to stare at Gabrielle again as she was still sleeping soundly. Not even the motion of Xena getting out of bed stirred her. Xena longed for that peaceful sleep and so she envied her blonde friend in this moment of serenity. Sleep was important, but to be asleep for eternity was worse. Ares' proposition weighed heavily on her mind especially these last few days. Her eyes filled with tears. Not wishing to shed them she looked away.

Xena did not want to kill Gabrielle and she couldn't understand why Ares would want her to. Gabrielle was a nobody to Ares, he didn't have a valid reason for asking Xena to commit that act of violence towards Gabrielle. In her mind she instantly thought that the War God was jealous. If he couldn't have her alone, then nobody could. No friends, no family, just nobody. He wanted her all to himself ever since she started praising him at the young age of eighteen. Xena yearned for his attention, proving herself more worthy as the years went by, but everything changed when she became empress to her Grecian Empire in Athens. She told Ares that she didn't need him anymore and boy that made him furious. Xena knew that got underneath his skin, but at the time she didn't care.

Slowly her feelings for Ares diminished as her empire grew. As the years passed the more Xena realized that Ares had been wanting her attention instead of the other way around. Here at thirty five, almost thirty six years of age Xena was not convinced that she had completely loss all feelings towards the War God, but she developed new feelings.

Gabrielle was her friend, and she could be annoying sometimes when she spoke a lot, but truthfully at least Xena appreciated how honest she was. Ares is definitely not honest and he has proved this many times over the last seventeen years of her life. Every time he asked her to do something for him it always ended with her at the end of stick, but yet she continued to be at his beck and call for many years. As Xena grew older she realized that Ares was never going to stop bothering her until her death. He never aged, but she did and for that reason she knew that Ares wanted to spend a lot of his time with her.

Xena's past actions reflected who she was as a person. She was more than just a bitch, as many called her, she could be cruel at times and now it was apparent to Xena since she met Gabrielle. Ares did not like this warmth in Xena's heart and it bothered him to the core, she was well aware of this. That's probably what his problem was, he was jealous and did not like the changes Xena had made in her life including letting someone else come into her life other than him. Xena had many suitors and could have any one of them any time she wanted but Gabrielle was not her suitor, she became a friend. She has not had a friend in a very long time and if she did have _friends_ , they always betrayed her thus making them enemies as they were never friends to begin with.

This was the reason why Ares wanted Xena to kill Gabrielle, she understood it now completely. She couldn't bring herself to kill possibly the only friend she truly had in her life. Her eyes glanced over to the bed again and saw Gabrielle stir in her slumber, figuring that she was to wake soon.

 _I won't let anything happen to you Gabrielle, not again._ Xena strolled over to the chair next to the bed to put her clothes back on and go downstairs soon. She did not wish to leave here with nothing accomplished. She had hoped to scare Octavius into telling her why he sent the assassin, but Gabrielle spoiled that plan. Because of that Xena felt irritated at her, but knew that what she did was not to anger her, but to save her. She felt like Gabrielle was saving her from a lot of things, a lot of pain, lately, but the truth is; she couldn't save her every time.

Moments later Gabrielle's eyes fluttered open and she shielded her irises from the light shining into the bedroom. Her eyes slowly adjusting to the bright light was blocked by Xena's tall figure standing at the edge of the bed. Gabrielle smiled softly, rubbing her face against her palm, trying to desperately wake up from a much needed sleep. It had been awhile since she had slept so well, but then she soon realized that she was not in a bed by herself, she was in a bed _with_ Xena. Last night Xena asked Gabrielle to stay with her, which she thought odd but glad she did, because it was a restful sleep. She only hoped that Xena had a restful sleep as well.

"Good morning," Gabrielle said with a tired stricken voice. Sitting up she leaned against the headboard of the bed, trying to allow her body to come to terms with her brain to wake up fully.

Xena smiled, "I see you slept well."

The blonde yawned, "I did," she rubbed the back of her head, "what about you, did you sleep well?"

"I slept well enough," Xena answered as she began to lace her boots sitting in the chair nearby the bed. Something came to her mind just now and she remembered that Gabrielle was about to tell her some valuable information, which she kindly refused. She stared at the sleepy blonde scribe, "you were going to tell me something last night, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle shook her head, widening her eyes as she was now fully awake. She had almost completely forgot until Xena brought it to her attention just now.

"ah yeah, um...I heard Tiberius talking to Octavius about Antony and Phraates," it had been awhile since any news of those two traitors were mentioned in Xena's presence. She glanced over at the warrior woman and saw her eyes perked up and she was fully attentive.

Xena grabbed her cloak, swinging it over her shoulders and buckling the clasp to her armored shoulder plates. "And what did he say?"

Gabrielle scooted over to the edge of the bed, closing in proximity to Xena. She folded her arms in discontent, "I couldn't hear everything they were saying, but..." she quirked her mouth to the side, "Octavius said Antony is taking his army to Cleopatra, to form an alliance."

Xena smiled knowingly. She knew all too well that Antony was capable of such idiotic plans. She didn't think Phraates would go along with it though, he was more of a puppet to Antony than anything. A smart Persian man like himself shouldn't be allied with a Roman, but with her, a Thracian.

The blonde smirked at Xena's silent response. "you knew he was going to do that, didn't you?"

The brunette nodded her head and adjusted her chest armor. Feeling certain she was ready to go she grabbed her sword and scabbard ready to head out the door. "Antony repeats his mistakes over and over again. He has an odd fascination for Cleopatra. He is a sucker for a good looking woman. It is no surprise that he is leading his army to Egypt to defy Rome once again." She sighed and opened the door, Gabrielle quickly following behind. "There is something I don't understand though."

"What's that?" Gabrielle inquired.

"Why hasn't Octavius taken action already? He desires Egypt, yet he does not take it."

Gabrielle tapped her finger against her chin, "maybe he needs you out of the way. You said you have territories in Egypt, right?"

Xena shook her head in disbelief, "I don't rule Egypt, Cleopatra can dissolve my control over her lands any time she wishes, but she has not. Octavius has already been to see the Queen and yet he waits..." she then frowned, "like a rat." With that note she exited the room storming down the stairs.

Gabrielle trailed behind Xena and abruptly stopped at her side. Both women scanned the room to find it void of people. A few maids rushed around, cleaning up the villa and delivering towels for the baths. Xena narrowed her eyes and her ears perked up listening to any voices nearby.

"Where is everybody?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena put a hand up, "shh," she whispered, and heard two recognizable voices down the hall. Hastily, she walked down the long hallway, cupping the hilt of her sword in her hand. Suddenly the sound of her boot heels came to a halt and she turned on her heel, opening a door to reveal the faces behind the voices.

Octavius stopped talking and Tiberius turned to face the empress, standing in the doorway like a force to be reckon with. Solan also sat in on the meeting, quietly like a mouse. Xena eyed Solan then focused her gaze on the Roman emperor and his advisor.

"Xena, so kind of you to drop in," Octavius stated, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Slightly annoyed with the woman barging in his private meeting he stood, adjusting his attire to face the warrior queen.

Xena smiled, "I'm sure you were dying to see me," she turned to Solan, "Solan, leave. I have matters to discuss with your uncle." She was not taking no for an answer.

Gabrielle watched the two powerhouses stare each other down then saw the shocked expression on Solan's face. He was a bit irritated that she was able to order him around like a small child. Gabrielle's eyes darted back and forth waiting for an argument to occur.

Solan stood up, furrowed brows and strong posture, opposing his mother. "You do not live here, you cannot order me to leave!" he said defiantly. "She is not even Roman!" his attention towards his uncle now, who briefly glared at him then went back to focusing on Xena.

Xena smirked, "come talk to me when you are emperor, then we shall see who makes the orders," she told the irate teen. _I'm sorry, Solan, I must do this for your own good_.

Solan huffed and turned to his uncle waiting for him to oppose her demand but he simply nodded, agreeing with Xena that he should leave the room as well. He groaned, "fine," he walked towards the exit and was eye level with Xena, staring into her icy blue eyes, challenging her silently. Xena's lip twitched and then she grinned just before Solan purposely bumped into her arm, making a point that he was heated.

Tiberius snickered at the boy's tantrum after he left the room. They all noted that he brushed against Xena's arm forcefully. Gabrielle took a few steps back and saw Solan storming down the hall, silently cursing to himself. She sighed and then focused her mind towards this situation at hand.

Octavius folded his arms and sighed deeply, "his temper is worse than Antony's," he brushed that matter aside and addressed the empress, "what gives you the right to just walk in here, Xena?"

Xena smiled and walked closer to the Roman's desk, tapping her finger on the hilt of her sword. "Word has it from a little bird that Antony is going to Egypt to see...you know who," she smirked. "You know what I find so fascinating?" she waited for his reaction, wide eyes as usual. She chuckled, "a great Caesar, after the first Caesar I mean," she winked, "would never allow this charade to carry on."

Tiberius eyed Xena as she paced back and forth, casually talking as if she were an orator. "Come on," she threw her hands in the air as her grin grew in size, "where are the crucifixes? The blood? The betrayal...must be...eating you up inside, _emperor_ ," she hissed.

The emperor had to give Xena this, she was good at manipulating people and it did not help that she was also very beautiful to look at. Her eyes so blue, so enticing, filled with power and ambition. What he did not like was that she always undermined his abilities as an emperor. She had been an adult when his uncle was alive, and knew that they hated each other at one point. He was sure that she wanted to be the one to kill him, not Brutus, but alas, the gods were not in her favor for the task.

He smiled, "you can tell your little bird that he ought to be careful when eavesdropping," his eyes turned to Gabrielle, whom stood at the entrance of his office, slightly embarrassed, but yet determined, much like her commander.

Xena smiled smugly and tapped her foot out of boredom. She grew tired of standing here, playing the riddle game. She normally loved this game but it was not fun when her opponent retorted with matter-of-fact statements. She sighed loudly, "when one is presented with a vial of poison, the person has three choices," she held up her fingers, "drink it to prove that he is cowardly, _or_ " her eyes grew in excitement, "give it to the enemy."

Gabrielle did not understand what Xena was trying to accomplish here and it was obvious Octavius shared her thoughts. He looked puzzled at Xena's little riddle. Sometimes her cryptic language confused her enemies, stirring them into madness, other times it just pissed them off, but she supposed that was Xena's plan all along. She liked to play with her enemies like stuffed animals, constantly hitting them with contorting sentences, confusing analogies and metaphors.

Octavius, playing along with the empress he smirked, challenging Xena's riddle. He didn't see the point in this, but he knew that if he didn't play along this meeting would not end in his favor. Over the years he had no problems with Xena and he did not intend to make some, although it seemed the fish was out of water since he sent an assassin to attack her. He did not plan to kill her and if he did he would send a skilled assassin, not some rookie assassin.

"And what is the third choice?" he folded his arms, smiling arrogantly.

Xena snickered, "well, I think you're smart enough to figure that one out on your own," she winked and took her leave. She nodded to Gabrielle, "come on, we need to leave to return to Athens. Our business is finished here," her eyes met Octavius' once more and left with a huge grin on her perfect crimson lips.

Gabrielle strutted alongside Xena and furrowed her eyebrows. They only stayed one night and left with nothing in return. Xena did not attack Rome, did not attack the emperor and was even rude to her own son. Her behavior was rather erratic, she gathered. _You were doing so well, Xena. What are you up to?_

"What was that about?" Gabrielle asked. She was trying to figure out Xena's little riddle as they head outside to their horses that the guards immediately had ready for their leave.

Xena threw her belongings on the horse's back and mounted it, taking the reins. "Just putting a little fire under the emperor's ass, Gabrielle," she smiled. She then held out her hand for Gabrielle to join her on the giant stallion. Reluctant to take her hand she stepped forward almost grabbing the offer, then stepped back. Xena grinned warmly this time, "come, I don't want you to walk all the way home again," she urged the woman to take her hand.

Finally Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand and hopped onto the black horse behind Xena. It was strange to sit on a horse especially with Xena. She usually rode alone but her nice gesture was hard to refuse. Although Gabrielle loved to walk she wouldn't mind sharing a ride with Xena even if it was for the half the journey.

They exited the Roman palace and were now on the outskirts of the city, traveling through the large forest. It would be a few hours before they tread through the barren desert of Greece and back to the beautiful Navy city of Athens. Gabrielle was admiring all the nature that surrounded them, the rolling hills, large cedar trees and small birds flying about.

Xena looked behind her to see Gabrielle thoroughly enjoying the ride home, less miserable she suspected. "How are you doing back there, Gabrielle?" she asked curiously.

The blonde was caught in her daze and smiled, "the scenery is beautiful out here. Don't you ever listen to the sounds that nature has to offer?"

Xena scoffed, "not really. I am just trying to get from point A to point B."

"You've traveled so much Xena, yet you don't appreciate the world around you. So strange," Gabrielle wondered.

The brunette conqueror smiled, simply allowing Gabrielle to talk the rest of the journey home. She had a plan for Octavius and although they had never been allies, they would have to become true enemies. Antony and Phraates already were enemies technically and since Antony was stupid enough to concoct a plan to go to Egypt, Xena would be sure to foil that plan or meet him there before they arrived. That was her plan, but Ares still weighed heavily on her mind.

Hours later Gabrielle occasionally spoke about a few exotic birds in the forests, explaining to Xena what their names were and what kind of food they ate. In truth, Xena was half listening but she was just happy to see Gabrielle enjoying herself. She did not wish to spoil her moment. Gabrielle eventually got off the horse and scribbled on her scroll as she strolled alongside Xena's horse.

* * *

Antony sat outside his tent drinking some mead as the campfire crackled and embers sparked off the burning wood. He smiled at his prisoner sitting in a corner by himself still in chains. He did not seem to complain about his predicament but he needed to use Borias to get Xena to comply with his desires.

Phraates sat with Antony, smoking out opium out of his water pipe casually. "So what are you going to do with him?" he gestured to Borias.

"use him as a bargaining tool with Xena. He might mean nothing to her now, but when he presented in chains, she might change her mind," Antony smirked, drinking his alcohol.

The Persian eyed the prisoner once more, "how did you come about finding this man? He is not Greek nor Roman. He is not even Persian."

Antony cleared his throat and spoke to Borias, "hey you, want to tell my dear friend how I found you?" he laughed.

Borias frowned and spat at the Roman. He understood why Xena hated Romans, Octavius was fine at times, but Antony was very annoying. He was also obsessed with Cleopatra which was a detriment to his career. He remained unfocused a lot of the time, Borias gathered. Xena did not mention Antony too often when they spoke briefly through letters, only Octavius and his sister. Borias knew that Antony did not like Xena, but he used to fancy her once, a very long time ago, though that lasted but a moon. Xena was very manipulative and that caused Antony to lose focus because of a beautiful woman once again.

Antony grinned, "fine, no need to show gratitude. I'm sure Xena will show you some once you see her." He grabbed a few olives, shoving them in his mouth. He was sure that his new prisoner was hungry but he did not care. He turned his attention to Phraates. "This man killed one of Octavius' assassins. He was following Xena after her grand ceremony. What a load of horseshit that is," he scoffed, "Xena cannot change her old ways."

"Luckily for me, I had a few scouts in Athens at the time, an innkeeper that spoke with Borias during Xena's ceremony. Suspicious of him he followed him and that is when he saw Borias kill that assassin in cold blood," he smiled at Borias, "isn't that right Hungarian?"

Borias did not feel his words were worthy of this man so he stayed quiet, turning his face away from the arrogant fool.

"anyway, my men told me within a few days and so I decided to capture him. I didn't realize that Xena had others protecting her," he haughtily grinned.

Phraates smiled, enjoying the story. He always loved stories. "So you got him to confess that he knew Xena at one point?"

Antony nodded his head, "oh yes, and she more than just _knew_ him, my friend," he winked. "They have a child together." He downed the rest of his mead and poured more into his empty cup.

The Persian's eyes widened at this. He was surprised that Xena actually had a child as wicked as she was, he couldn't believe it. "Xena, a mother? I can't see it," he laughed.

Marc Antony enjoyed this little drabble. He was sure that Xena would arrive in two days or so as he received word that she was in Rome at the moment. He knew that Xena would not stay there long because she despised Rome and the people in it. She hated the Romans, that he knew.

"So tell me Borias, does Xena fuck as good as everyone says?" Antony let out a throaty laugh and Phraates followed his lead.

Borias irritated at this Roman man he decided to respond playfully to him. He smiled, turning to Antony whom had a grand grin, still chuckling. "You're not even half the man as Xena is in bed," he smirked. He saw Antony's laugh die and a frown appear on his lips. "oh but you wouldn't know would you...because you didn't even get to _fuck_ her, did you?" he laughed a bit at the Roman's embarrassment.

Phraates laughed at Borias' comment and Antony groaned, throwing a rock towards the Hungarian, missing of course. This caused Borias to laugh even harder upsetting him even more.

"I like him," the Persian emperor smiled and then sighed, "too bad he has to die." He took another puff of his opium and leaned back onto the rug that which was placed on the dirt.

* * *

A day later horns were sounded as Xena entered her palace gates, trotting on her black horse with Gabrielle following behind, carrying her large bag of scrolls with her. Xena dismounted her horse and then saw that she had guests beyond the gates. Frowning she saw it was Antony, Phraates and..."Borias?" she said aloud.

Gabrielle caught up with Xena and saw who she was staring at. She immediately noticed Borias in chains and looking very depleted. "What are they doing with him?" she asked Xena.

Xena marched towards Antony who was on his horse with Borias' chains in his grasp. "Antony, what are you doing here? Don't you have an Egyptian whore to attend to?" she smirked.

Antony ignored that comment and flung Borias forward, "don't you have a whore of your own? You want him?" he teased.

Xena was unsure what Antony was doing with Borias in his custody but she didn't want him to be hurt. She stared at Borias who was knelt down on the dirt. Her heart once heavy for this man had suddenly lightened at the sight of him in this moment. He had made a horrible decision to give Solan to the Romans and they had their differences but they were once bound together more than in the flesh. She stepped forward and Antony pulled Borias backward, he groaned as Roman's grip tightened.

"A-a-a, Xena, you have to do something for me," he grinned.

Xena folded her arms, "and what is that? I know your plan to go to Egypt to ally with Cleopatra. Her empire is dying I hope you know that and Octavius knows everything."

Gabrielle thought it strange that Xena was revealing everything to Marc Antony and Phraates, it was unlike her but if she knew Xena, she always had a plan.

Antony sighed, "very well. Octavius is a brat, he _thinks_ he knows everything, but he doesn't," he smirked. "So," he looked at his prisoner, "willing to bargain?"

Xena looked to Borias and all their memories together came flooding back into her mind. She remembered so many things, the bad and the good things they shared. Solan was the only good thing that came of their relationship together. Suddenly she had no plan, she had nothing.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked in a firm tone.

Suddenly Antony's men surrounded her with swords pointing to her throat and she tensed. She was not expecting that from Antony at all. She saw her men surround Antony's with swords and bows with arrows.

"Tell your men to back off," Phraates demanded.

Xena glared at the two traitors and nodded her head towards her men. They backed away reluctantly and Antony's men still had their swords at her throat.

"Get the girl," Antony gestured to Gabrielle. Some of the soldiers went to Gabrielle and grabbed her forcefully by the arms. She groaned trying to get free until one of them kicked her to the ground.

Xena looked back and saw Gabrielle breathing heavily, wriggling from their hold on the dirt. Her cheek buried in the soil as one of the men sat on top of her. "What are you doing? She has no part in this!" she yelled at Antony.

Marc Antony grinned, "just a bit of insurance, my dear," he told his men to back away from her and Xena looked around begging for someone to attack her. She was ready. "Now Xena, time to bargain. Take out your sword," he asked of her.

Xena unsure of what he was planning she carefully unsheathed her sword. She eyed his soldiers, still in close proximity to her. She was not stupid enough to attack all of them at once otherwise something might happen to Gabrielle. She never had to think of anyone else before but this time...she did.

Antony handed Borias to one of his men and he brought him forward and pushed him to his knees. Borias grunted as he felt the imminent bruises forming on his neck, hands and ankles. He stared at Xena and wondered what was going on in her mind right now. Xena's eyes were sorrowful and filled with pain. The last time he saw that expression was when she had to give away Solan as a baby when he was a few days old.

Antony smiled, "now kill him Xena."

Xena's mouth gaped. She couldn't believe what the Roman was asking of her. She couldn't do that, this was her companion for many years, her son, their son's father. She couldn't and she wouldn't. "No," she exclaimed.

"Either you kill him or I will find your son and kill him instead, your choice," he smirked holding up his hands, shrugging.

Xena's heart sunk to her stomach. How did he know that they had a son together? Her eyes darted back and forth trying to figure out what to do. She held her sword in hand and did not wish to do this.

Antony laughed, "oh yeah I bet you're wondering how I know you have a son. Don't worry your boy toy didn't tell me anything." He snapped his fingers to his men to bring forth the source.

Two men carried out a limp body and threw it onto the ground in front of Xena. Her eyes watered, knowing who it was, she knelt down flipping the lifeless body over. The pale male in front of her was none other than her older brother, Toris. She covered her mouth, shying away from showing her feelings. She closed her eyes and then became instantly overcome with rage. She stood up and pointed her sword towards the Persian emperor.

"You killed my brother?!" her words shaky as was her hand, her eyes filled with tears and a single stream trickled down her cheek.

Gabrielle heard everything and tried to break free once more and was instantly knocked down to the ground. She swiveled her head around to see the boots of Xena only. She saw many men surrounding her and yet she couldn't do anything but lay here helpless.

Phraates shrugged, "not after I tortured him a bit," he looked at his fingernails casually, not caring about Xena's feelings at all.

Xena lowered her sword and then stared at Borias before her. He looked down at the ground, not wishing to take in her icy blue eyes.

Antony sighed, "well I'm waiting. Either you choose him or your son, I don't have all day, Xena." He was becoming impatient.

Xena lifted Borias up gently and they stared at each other. Borias revealed a weak smile and touched Xena's cheek with the backside of his hand. "Just do it Xena," he whispered. Xena shook her head and another tear streamed down her face. "Don't cry," he gently told her.

Her teary eyes blurred her vision staring directly at Borias bound in chains, completely willing to give his life for Solan and for her, but she had to be the executioner. She didn't want her life to a constant disaster right after the other, but here she was.

Gabrielle grunted as she tried to scoot over to see what was going on between Borias and Xena. She couldn't hear anything as she was far away from them. Everyone surrounding the area was very quiet except the occasional sigh of Antony.

"We're all waiting Xena," Marc Antony announced.

Xena looked to Antony then back at Borias whom had a sad but warm smile. He then grabbed Xena's hand that gripped the sword and brought it up to him, taking a step forward. Her face horrified at what was about to happen. He nodded at her insisting that she just do it and get it over with but she stood still, not willing to go through with the deed.

Borias grabbed the sword, resting his hand over hers, thrusting the sword into his abdomen freely. Xena gasped and then pushed the blade through his entire body, blood seeping from the wound and slowly trickling out the sides of his mouth. Tears inevitably streamed down her cheeks as she watched Borias, her former lover, her warlord companion, die in front of her.

She then pulled the sword out from his torso slowly and gradually set him on the ground, cradled his body in her arms. She ran her fingers through his now short hair and tears fell onto his body armor.

Gabrielle saw Xena on the ground with a lifeless body in her arms and she sighed. Antony should die, she thought, for making her do that.

Xena kissed Borias' forehead and then set his body down the ground then stood up slowly with sword in hand. _I'm so sorry_. Tear stained cheeks and head now pounding she pointed the sword at Marc Antony and Phraates.

"Enjoy your show you bastards because it will be the last one you see," she exclaimed and sheathed her sword.

**AN: is what Xena did _real_ or just another one of Ares' alternate realities?**


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Thank you for the reviews, I really like to hear everyone's feedback. Also, this chapter is crazy, be prepared. Soon Xena will see what Ares' secret weapon is...and then some. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 21_

Antony smiled, "now kill him Xena."

She shook her head instantly brought back to reality. Borias was very much alive kneeling in front of her. What she saw was not the future but another one of Ares' perpetual nightmare realities. She did not want that to happen, she wasn't going to give Ares that satisfaction of killing Borias.

Xena looked up at Antony and couldn't believe what he was suggesting. Her eyes gazed down to the chained prisoner. She and Borias had their differences but she could not kill him, she wouldn't allow herself to do such a thing. Her eyes swelled with tears as she averted her gaze to Antony and back to Borias several times over. _I can't do it_. Xena's mind was anything but clear at this point, and she looked behind her to see Gabrielle on the wet soil with one of Antony's soldiers firmly planted on top of her.

Suddenly she felt a finger come to her cheek, brushing it softly and a warm gust of breath hit her ear, causing her to shiver.

Ares smiled at Xena as he was inches away from her face, caressing her cheek and touching her long neck. Xena reacted immediately, her eyes focused on Borias before her.

"What are you waiting for Xena?" he whispered in her ear.

Xena shook her head, blinking several times. Looking around she noticed that nobody else was able to see Ares but herself and she thought everyone think she'd be crazy if she looked like she was talking to herself. Antony still had that horrid smug on his pretty boy face and she grimaced.

"Get out of here..." she hissed.

Borias' eyes lifted and saw Xena's eyes darken and he was sure she spoke but was unsure of what she said. He didn't know what Xena was going to do, but she was taking an awful lot of time deciding. With all the years they had been together and all the challenges they faced, he couldn't believe that Xena would kill him. She wouldn't, he thought.

Ares snickered, "I thought you liked killing people Xena?" he kissed her neck sensually.

Xena felt herself losing focus and becoming distracted. Her sword was still pointed at Borias and he looked confused as ever.

"I don't enjoy killing people, but I'd enjoy killing you...if I could," she stared at the War God and now he had a displeased look by her words. She smiled smugly still sword in hand.

Borias raised his eyebrow at her hushed words. "What?" he whispered so no one else but Xena could hear. Now he was unsure if he was going to die. He wanted to live, he didn't deserve to die, well maybe, but not by Xena's hand. If he were to die by Xena's sword it would be an honorable death in his eyes.

Ares smirked, "fine, Gabrielle's life for his then...deal? I still have that most powerful weapon you wanted...you can't go back on your deal, Xena."

Xena looked at Borias then back at Gabrielle, still lying in the dirt, struggling to get free.

"We're all waiting Xena," Marc Antony announced.

The warrior queen looked to the Roman bastard and smiled viciously. Her eyes focused on him now and staring directly into his eyes. Her brother still lay on the cold ground, lifeless. She was not going to kill Borias, now both her brothers were dead, she had no family left, she did not even know if her mother still lived. It was time to make her decision. _No more nightmares, Ares._

"Enjoy your show you bastards because it will be the last one you see," she exclaimed. She lifted her sword into the air, letting out a loud cry and thrust the sword downward on Borias.

Borias dare not flinch as he knew what she was going to do. He closed his eyes and awaited the blow to the neck but a few seconds later he realized his head was still intact, but his hands now free of the chains as well as the one around his neck. He lifted his head to see a rather irate but determined Xena standing above him. She threw the sword into his hands and he smiled, gladly taking it, rising to meet her blue eyes.

Xena smiled warmly at Borias and she set her hand on his shoulder, her tear filled eyes still present. Ares saw the exchange and immediately felt enraged. She betrayed everything that she said she would do...again!

Ares frowned, " _Xena_!" he yelled loudly and thunder roared in the skies. The surrounding soldiers looked to the skies and saw the clouds become darker by the minute.

Xena smirked, "could I borrow this?" she kicked Ares in the torso, knocking him down on the ground as she grabbed his sword from his scabbard. She glanced at the sword, admiring its beauty and amazing craftsmanship. Ares frowned and stood up instantly staring Xena down. Completely ignoring his presence she began attacking the surrounding guards.

Ares had enough of Xena's antics and he soon disappeared. _I will get you back, Xena_.

Borias and Xena stood back to back with swords in their hands, fighting off Antony's soldiers one by one. They may be Romans, but their swordsmanship was poor as most of them were inexperienced and lacked real-time combat.

"I thought you were going to kill me," Borias managed to say as he pulled a soldier in a head lock and sliced his throat. He threw the soldier on the ground and began attacking the oncoming men.

Xena kicked two soldiers in the neck, injuring their windpipes. She smiled at Borias' comment. "You are not worthy of my sword, Borias," she growled as she thrust her blade into a soldier's abdomen.

Borias smirked, he knew that Xena could be cruel sometimes, but never knew her to be comical in the times that they were together. He figured this was her way of apologizing to him, and he took it with grace. "I knew you loved me," he smiled smugly.

Xena finished off the attackers and saw Antony was retreating with Phraates. The men that had Gabrielle drug her off and threw her onto a horse, riding off. Her eyes widened at this and she ran towards the exit of her palace, calling out, "Gabrielle!" another soldier came to attack Xena from behind and she kicked him in the groin, causing him to fall to his knees. She turned around and sliced his throat.

Antony had killed Xena's black stallion as well as the other horses around them. Her men tried their best to fight back the remaining soldiers, but did not notice Gabrielle being kidnapped by Antony and Phraates until it was too late.

Borias ran towards Xena after finishing off some stragglers. He breathed heavily from the adrenaline rush and looked at Xena's sword that he held. Now it was full of blood, thankfully not his. He looked to her and saw she was very angry, or perhaps sad, he couldn't really read her expression.

"They took Gabrielle?" he asked, obviously knowing the answer.

Xena huffed, "Ares!" she yelled to the skies and Borias stood back, looking to the dark sky and it began to pour down rain. He didn't understand why she was screaming the War God's name. Borias knew that Xena praised Ares a long time ago, but didn't think she was still involved in praying to the gods.

He threw his hood over his head protecting himself from the furious rain. Xena yelled Ares' name once again and Borias grabbed Xena's arm.

"What are you doing? Ares can't help you! You know that!" he growled over the thundering skies.

Xena's eyes were savage and filled with rage when she stared into Borias' dark eyes. He raised an eyebrow and realized he may have over stepped his boundaries but he did not care. He knew Xena better than anyone else here, definitely better than the God of War.

"Ares, show yourself! I know you are not far," she looked around furiously searching where he could show up. Ares did not show up nor did the rain stop. Borias shook her shoulder and she ignored it. _Why didn't I protect Gabrielle?_

* * *

A little while later Borias managed to get Xena to come inside her fortress and change clothes. Racha brought both of them towels and fresh clothes for Xena laid on her bed. She sat on the edge of the bed with a warm blanket around her body. Her hair damp and somewhat frizzy from the humid air traveling inside her bedroom from the rain. Borias lit a few candles in the room and closed the curtains, shielding some of the wind and rain out. Borias gave his shirt, vest and cloak for Racha to wash and he kept his pants on, although left his boots outside of Xena's room.

Borias pulled up a chair from Xena's 'where all the meetings happen' table and sat in front of Xena. She stared blindly at the floor revealing no sudden emotion, just a blank stare. He titled his head, trying to make eye contact with her, but she remained stoic.

He then lifted her chin with his fingers and Xena blinked, staring at Borias. She pulled away slowly and snuggled into the blanket, wrapping it around her naked body tightly.

"I need to find Gabrielle," she stated in a hoarse voice.

Borias smiled at Xena's ambition, but he knew that she would not be able to go out in this storm by herself and it wouldn't be safe either. "We can go look for her whereabouts tomorrow." He suggested.

She started to get up from the bed, dropping the blanket onto the ground. Borias wanted to turn away but it was hard to resist. He looked away for a few seconds then realized Xena was in some kind of weird trance. She was on a mission and it was hard to stop Xena when she was on a mission. She began to look for her armor, slipping the black tunic over her head and slipping on some black pants.

He frowned, "Xena you can't go out there in that storm. Not even you would do that if you _were_...thinking straight!" he folded his arms, disbelieving her behavior.

Xena frowned and began buckling her armor on her torso. Borias blocked her way out of the bedroom and this irritated her even more. "Get out of my way, Borias. I need to find Gabrielle. Who knows what Marc Antony has done to her already," she stepped to the side and he blocked her way yet again. They continued this dance until she folded her arms, smiling mockingly. " _Borias_..." she said in a calm warm voice. "would you _kindly_...step aside?"

Borias smiled to combat her odd sarcastic tone of voice. "No. Let me come with you."

"Not a chance," she shook her head.

He sighed, "Xena," he exclaimed in the calmest voice possible. "I can help you, you don't have to do everything by yourself you know! You've always been like that. You aren't the only one in the world that has problems. You can't just..."

Xena interrupted him and held her hand up for silence, "I know, I know..." she tapped her finger against her chin debating if she should allow Borias to come with her or not. "If I let you come," she saw the hope yet mischief in his eyes, " _if_...will you promise to stay out of my way when I rescue Gabrielle?"

Borias seemed like that was pretty fair. He didn't really know the blonde and didn't care, but if she meant a lot to Xena then he'd be glad to help. He almost died today and thanks to the graces of the gods... _or_ to Xena coming to her senses, he lived. He was still here. She had plenty of chances to kill him yet he still stands, alive and well.

"Whatever you want, empress," he teased.

Xena grabbed his clean clothes and shoved them into his chest. "I'll get the horses ready," she left the room, storming outside to the stables to grab supplies for the horses. Racha gave her a heavy cloak for the trip and she gladly put it on, the hood draping over her head.

* * *

Later the two traveled on the horses with soaked cloaks, trotting through the forests. The tree branches became heavy with rain water, threatening to break off any moment. Borias followed behind Xena but just a few steps on a brunette horse. He noticed that the storm was unlikely to let up any time soon. He trotted forward stopping Xena from going any further.

"I think we should take shelter," he yelled over the rain. Xena looked around and nodded, finally consenting. Even she knew that it would be unwise to continue onward during this rain storm.

They rode towards a nearby cave outside of the skirts of Athens. They did not get very far, but it was as far as they were both willing to go until the rain stopped.

Finally they brought the horses inside the cave, and while Xena started a small fire in the cave Borias tied the horses' reins together so they would not be tempted to wander off in the storm. He took his cloak off setting it on a nearby rock so it had time to dry off. He went over to Xena and took off her cloak as well. Xena stopped clinging the rocks together while he took off her cloak carefully. After he walked off she continued to try and start the fire.

Borias went to the horses and grabbed a wineskin and sat down to the small fire Xena had finished lighting. He looked at Xena who seemed distracted and restless. She was unable to just sit down for awhile, and instead kept pacing back and forth mindlessly.

"When do you think the rain will stop?" Xena asked.

Borias shrugged, "I don't know. Why don't you sit down? It's unlikely that Antony got very far anyway..." he drank from the wineskin. Xena finally sat down opposite of him, she poked at the fire gingerly.

A few silent moments passed and Xena sat cross legged. "I should of saved Gabrielle instead of fighting those Romans," she cursed herself.

He passed the wineskin to Xena and she eyed it carefully, not sure if she should take it or not, but at last she finally took it and drank from it.

"You really like her don't you?" Borias asked with a smug smile.

Xena eyed him and noticed the smile. She sighed, "she's my friend. I don't want anything to happen to her because of my poor decisions." She took another swig of wine from the skin. Her eyes trailed to Borias and he was unlacing his boots, taking his sweet time. She had one question though and she was unsure he could answer, but she decided to ask anyway.

"Who told Antony about Solan?" she asked bluntly.

Borias stopped unlacing his boot and looked up to Xena. "and how do you know it was not me?" he carefully inquired.

Xena smiled, "because you'd be dead already."

He couldn't argue with that but truly he had no answer. He did not know much about Xena's past life, but recently found out that she had an older brother, Toris, whom now was dead. "maybe it was your brother," he suggested.

The death of Toris was still raw to Xena. She asked her men to take him inside the palace and prepare a ceremony for him when she returned from rescuing Gabrielle. She wanted to take him back to Amphipolis as soon as possible, to be buried next to their younger brother. Immediately feeling sick to her stomach she drank more of the wine, hoping to ease the pain of the loss of her older brother. She had not been close to Toris in her life, she was always closer with Lyceus, but now they were both gone. She had nobody.

"Those bastards probably made him talk," she frowned, downing more of the wine.

Borias saw Xena was becoming enraged and agitated from this discussion. He crawled over to her side and sat beside her, putting his hand over the wineskin's spout preventing her from drinking anymore. They locked into each other's eyes and she sighed, giving Borias the wineskin so she would not be tempted anymore.

"Do you think that Antony would hurt Solan? I mean, he doesn't even know where he is, right?" she bit her bottom lip anxiously. She began to rock her body back and forth, fear overcoming her slowly.

Borias set his hand on Xena's shoulder, "Solan will be fine, relax," he smiled warmly. Xena felt her eyes swell with tears again and she did not wish to show such emotion especially in front of Borias. She stood up abruptly and walked over to the entrance of the cave, watching the rain fall rapidly.

"As soon as the rain lets up we leave," she announced and wanted no arguments. Truthfully she did not understand why Borias had decided to tag along, but she secretly was glad that he did. She was tired of doing everything by herself, tired of being alone.

* * *

Gabrielle woke up with a slight headache and blurred vision. She glanced around, shaking her head trying to become more aware of her surroundings. Then she realized that she was tied up to a pole and at the bottom of...a ship. She gasped and began trying to struggle to get free of the hold.

Footsteps were heard and she saw Marc Antony walking down the stairs and approached her. Gabrielle furiously began trying to wriggle her way out of the tight knots around her wrists and ankles.

"where are you taking me?" Gabrielle asked.

Antony knelt down so he could be at her level. He smiled, touching her cheek with the backside of his hand. Gabrielle snatched her head away and frowned. "Feisty! I see why Xena keeps you around. Are you her concubine?" he laughed. Gabrielle stayed silent, not wishing to answer that question. He had no right to know the relationship between Xena and herself. "Fine, you don't have to answer. I bet Xena is right behind our trail. Too bad she won't ever make it." he sighed and stood up, waltzed over to a chair and sat down opposite of Gabrielle. He smiled at her, she grimaced.

"so little bird, may I call you that?" he pointed his dagger at her and began sharpening it slowly. "Good," he grinned, "ever been to Egypt?"

 _By the gods? Egypt?_ She began to wonder how long they had been at sea, but it couldn't have been long because the storm was still quite heavy. The ship creaked as it slowly voyaged over the stormy ocean. A drop of water leaked from the deck above onto Gabrielle's head. She looked up and saw the deck was leaking on her. It was a continuous leak and she winced every time the water dripped onto her hair.

"Why are you holding me captive, Antony?" she asked, moving her head to the side, now the annoying leak was dripping onto her shoulder.

Antony smiled glancing at his sharpened dagger. He stood up and grabbed Gabrielle's chin, forcing her to look directly into his eyes. "Because you're my bait. I know Xena will come for you," he let go and head for the exit. "don't even try thinking of escaping, Gabrielle, unless...you want to take a nice swim in the Mediterranean." He chuckled and trotted upstairs to the deck.

* * *

The following morning Xena woke up to a bright sun shining in her face. She quickly stood up and jumped over Borias, who was still asleep on the ground. She began untying the horses' reins and threw Borias' cloak onto his body jolting him awake. He grunted and turned his head around to see Xena all ready to go.

"Come on we don't have a lot of time," she gathered and brought the horses outside while she waited for Borias.

He groaned and stepped outside after he put on his boots and snuffed out the fire. He grabbed the horse's reins and hopped on quickly. Xena took off and he sighed, following her, still not awake fully.

An hour or so later Xena hopped off the horse and picked up soil, crushing it against her fingers. She frowned, "they stopped here," she stood up and glanced around trying to figure out where they could have gone after that. Borias halted and listened to the sounds of waves crashing in a close distance.

"they could have gone to sea," he suggested, not wanting to see Xena's reaction to that.

Xena's eyes widened, she mounted her horse and began riding towards the port of Athens. The villagers immediately recognizing who she was bowed their heads slightly, some smiled while others looked puzzled and maybe afraid. She trotted into the village and then dismounted the horse.

Borias followed her lead and took the hood off his head. There were a few large ships that were docked. Most of them were supply ships and one slave ship. "These ships are not elite ships, Xena," he said.

"I know..." she answered dreadfully. She walked over to one of the innkeeper's shops and waltzed in to see a lot of sailors and traders drinking happily, carrying on their conversations. She walked up to the bar and a few men got up and moved.

"Do you know if any other ships set sail yesterday in the late afternoon or early evening?" she asked the bartender and he noticed that this woman was no ordinary woman. He rarely got women to come into his inn but he knew this woman was the Empress of Athens.

The man smiled, "Empress," he bowed his head and Xena resisted an eye roll. "I...I saw a ship docked yesterday. It wasn't a supply ship," he said in a raspy alcohol stricken voice.

Xena nodded, "do you know where they could have gone? Did someone talk to the people that owned the ship?" she pressed onward, trying to find answers.

The innkeeper nodded and pointed to a man wearing a red Fez, "he keeps track of the ships that come in and out of Athens, m'lady." Xena looked to the man outside who stood next to the docks. She immediately left the inn and hastily made her way over in that direction. Borias tugged on the reins of the horses and stood behind Xena.

She tapped on the man's shoulder and he ignored her, "yeah, yeah, hold your horses."

Immediately becoming more impatient by the minute she grabbed him by the throat and turned his body towards her. He dropped his quill and parchment on the ground. "Tell me the about the ship that left yesterday afternoon."

The man gasped for air, holding onto Xena's grip, his toes barely touching the ground beneath him.

Borias smiled, "let him go, Xena, poor man can't even talk," he laughed. Xena looked to the man who was becoming red in the face and she dropped him, he fell to the ground, gasping for much needed air.

"Tell me!" she yelled.

The Fez man coughed holding his throat. "There...there were two ships. One left for Thrace, the other," he coughed some more," for E...gypt."

Xena looked to the open waters and could only imagine what Gabrielle was going through right now. It was her fault that she was taken, but she was sure to get her back. She knew that Antony would pull something like this. He wanted her to go to Egypt, this was his plan all along. Xena felt stupid for not cluing in earlier to it and she cursed herself for it. She focused her attention back to the dock man and pulled him up by the sleeve of his shirt. "I need a ship."

He smiled nervously, "I don't know if we have any..." he lamented.

"I am the Empress of Athens, you get me a ship and I won't rip out your insides, got it?" she smiled.

The man nodded furiously and he ran towards the supply ship keeper to find Xena a ship immediately.

Borias folded his arms, "going to sea?"

Xena looked to the sea, feeling the breeze glide through her thick long locks. She was determined to end this. "To Egypt."

_I'm coming for you Antony._


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: speeding some things up here and a lot going on this. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 22_

Gabrielle was immediately pushed into a dungeon below Cleopatra's extravagant palace in Egypt. She got up off the sandy dungeon ground and groaned. Wishing that Xena were here right now she only hoped that she'd come after her. Surely she would, she was now her friend, Gabrielle hoped. Her eyes met with Marc Antony's on the other side of the iron bars. His smug smile only made her insides twist and turn, she really didn't like Antony, even though she had met him but a few times since she was with Xena. Gabrielle had only herself to blame, she was too worried about Xena killing Borias and seeing Toris dead that she did not have proper time to react to the situation.

Her fingers wrapped around the iron bars as she stared into the Roman's eyes. Her nostrils flared with disgust at the man. "are you planning to keep me in here until I rot?" she spat.

Antony laughed, "no my dear, I don't plan to kill you. I will simply wait for Xena, I have faith she will come," he winked at the blonde.

Gabrielle smiled sarcastically, "and what will you do when she comes? Will you kill me then?" she responded.

The Roman tisked, "no, no, no, my blonde scribe. I plan to use you as a bargaining tool with Xena."

She couldn't wrap her head around this idea. Antony had something up his sleeve and while she didn't know his plan, she knew that Xena would come for her and somehow sabotage his plan. The Roman began walking away with his soldiers following behind him. Two of Cleopatra's guards stood at the entrance of the dungeon. Gabrielle groaned, kicking the bared gate with her boot. She turned around looking up to the little light that filled the cell. The sun was hot, beaming down on her. Sighing she sat down on the ground wishing she had her scrolls with her so she could write about now. With nothing else to do with her time she began writing in the sand with her finger to keep herself occupied.

_I know you will find me, Xena. I have faith in you._

She started to feel as if she was going to be left here for quite some time and needed to devise a plan to get out of here, but this would prove impossible with two guards watching her every move.

* * *

Xena was granted a ship after all and it felt so good to be sailing at sea once again. She stood on the top deck, breathing in the humid sea breeze. The ocean was calm and the water still as they sailed onward. She was sure that Antony had reached Egypt already and she was a day behind him. Stupidly Antony kidnapped Gabrielle, killed her brother and offered her a chance to kill Borias. He was truly a snake, she had known this since the first time they met many years ago when Julius Caesar ruled over the Roman empire.

She was not foolish enough to come alone so she brought another ship with a third of her army with her, just in case Antony did something more stupid than usual. She closed her eyes listening to the water crashing against the ship, taking it all in. Then she felt a hand on top of hers and she was knocked out of her serenity.

"It has been awhile since we have sailed together, eh?" Borias smiled, standing next to her. He too loved being at sea and remembered all their adventures together when they traveled in the Mediterranean.

Xena removed her hand from beneath his and walked away from him, keeping herself busy with the sails, tending them as if they needed her attention. "I did not bring you with me to reminisce our past together, Borias," she kindly retorted.

He waltzed over in her direction, admiring her attentiveness to the sails. He almost wanted to laugh at how badly she was trying to distract herself from turning her gaze to him. "then why did you bring me with you?" he asked, hoping that question would grab her attention.

Xena stopped attending the sails and her eyes focused on Borias, who was now standing very close to her. She wanted to step away, but couldn't bring herself to. She averted her gaze abruptly and went down to the belly of the ship in the weaponry room. She knew that he would follow her, so she didn't even detest. Borias stood at the bottom step of the stairs, leaning against the doorway. His smirk grew as he saw Xena walk over to a desk and lay out a map, staring at it intently, almost like she was waiting for someone to instruct her what to do next.

"Are you afraid of something?" his voice lower than normal. She did not respond and so he sauntered in, admiring the weapons within the room. "or of me?" he waited for her to react, and finally saw her eyes lift to meet his.

Xena smirked, "I fear nothing, especially not you."

Borias snickered, "the warrior queen, the Empress of Greece, the Destroyer of Nations..." he trailed off, not sure where he was going with this. "even the mighty fear, Xena," he smiled.

She sighed, "I only fear what that Roman bastard might have done to Gabrielle, or what he will do..." She did not wish to think of such horrible things. Immediately feeling guilty again that she did not save Gabrielle as she was preoccupied, but she had no other choice at the time. There was something about Gabrielle that she truly liked. She liked being in her presence, but at first she was just a toy, but now she was a friend. It was like she had been missing in her life. Gabrielle was her conscious, and although they did not agree on everything, she made her find other ways to conquer instead of conquering as a tyrant.

"I have never seen you with such fire in your eyes," Borias lamented. Xena averted her eyes once more and he cleared his throat, changing the subject. "What is your grand plan once we arrive in Egypt?" he asked.

Xena smiled, "we kill Marc Antony."

* * *

Antony invited himself into Cleopatra's throne chamber carrying a large goblet of wine with him. He threw his cape to the guard at the entrance. Cleopatra sat on her throne in a loose fitted burgundy gown and laced sandals. Her eyes painted with kohl and lips lined with gold. She took a good look at Marc Antony and a smile came to her lips as she stood from her throne.

"Antony...it has been awhile," she sauntered down the steps aided by her advisor. Her hand met with his and she kissed him gingerly on the cheek.

Antony closed his eyes taking in all of Cleopatra's glory in front of him. He was sure that Octavius had received the letter he sent before sailing off from Athens. He was expecting Octavius to respond immediately and head to Egypt. Now that he knew that the Roman emperor would come all he needed was Xena and they could all have a grand time together, all three rulers in one room, that's what Antony really wanted. It was a terrible idea, he knew this, but he couldn't wait to see the look on Xena's face when she met Octavius in Cleopatra's fortress.

"I see that you've brought some friends with you..." she hissed, staring beyond his shoulder she saw a very anxious Phraates standing at the entrance. Three of her hand maidens coveted him and offered him wine and food, but he kindly refused, unsure how to approach the new situation.

Marc Antony turned around raising his goblet of wine, "ah yes, my dear friend, Phraates, he comes from the Persian lands. Come sit with us, join us," he winked at the Persian ruler and Phraates seemed to oblige, not sure he really had a choice in the matter.

Cleopatra sat on the ground surrounded by large pillows and snapped her fingers to the flute and drum players to fill the room with music. They immediately started playing and one of her maids handed her an opium pipe. Phraates sat down across from the Egyptian Queen and Antony laid down comfortably beside her.

She coughed as she inhaled the smoke, "I'm sure you know of such plants, do you not?" she handed the pipe to Phraates and he smiled, surely he knew what this was, she thought.

"Oh I know the plant very well, your highness," Phraates took the pipe inhaling the smoke deep into his lungs with ease.

Cleopatra grinned, running her fingers through her dark wig and then laid down in a more comfortable relaxed position closer to Antony. She touched his chest sensually, slowly unwrapping his garments. "You want Xena to find you here...you're a fool," she stated before she kissed his now bare shoulders.

Antony responded physically before he could even register what the Queen had said to him. He cleared his throat, looking into Cleopatra's hazel eyes. "I am many things, but a fool, I am not, my Queen," he responded with returning her kisses with a kiss of his own on her lips.

Phraates sat back taking advantage of the opium pipe. He turned to see trays of food brought to them by topless women. He coughed and immediately looked away, surprised at the lack of modesty in the Queen's palace.

"Something the matter, Persian?" Cleopatra smiled at the slightly embarrassed Persian emperor.

He shook his head in response. "I have only heard stories about your parties but...did not," he looked up and saw one of the thinner younger maids caressing his arms, and took off his cloak. He gulped, "think that...they were true," his eyes widened.

* * *

Hours later Octavius and his best elite soldiers landed on the coast of the Nile. Solan took off his helm and carried it with him as he exited the ship. The Roman emperor followed and his elite guards stood behind him and Solan. They began making their long trek to Cleopatra's palace as Marc Antony had instructed. He did not understand why Antony wanted him to come here, although his letter said that Cleopatra was willing to give up her authority over Egypt and hand it over to mother Rome, this pleased him. Perhaps this trip was to not be in vain.

The sky was dark, filled with stars and the air cold as the desert usually was at this time. The sun barely set an hour before they arrived. Solan followed Octavius carefully and touched his uncle's shoulder. "Is Xena going to be here?"

Octavius scoffed, "if she is here, then I will deal with her. Our focus here is Marc Antony and Cleopatra, not Xena." He halted in his step and turned toward the teenager, "do not let childish tantrums cloud your mind because of that woman. She is very manipulative and conniving." He continued onward to the palace by foot.

Solan frowned and then caught up to Octavius quickly. "But she undermined your authority as emperor and my authority as future successor! She does not have the right to do that," he cried.

"If there is one thing I learned about Xena, it is not to anger her, but to play her mind games," he sighed, "come, we will be there soon."

* * *

Gabrielle groaned and she kicked the sand, ruining her creation she made with her hands out of boredom. She sat down on a stone bench inside the cell with her head in her hands. The sun was long gone and the only light was from the torches lit inside the dungeon. She glared at the guards constantly, hoping they would return a glare but they stood still as stone. She was convinced that they had been bewitched. As the hours passed she was starting to believe that Xena was not coming for her after all and that she'd be left here alone, with no chance of escaping this desert land.

"Xena, where are you?" she whispered to herself. She sighed and leaned against the stone wall, feeling a sense of déjà vu. She remembered when Xena bought her as a slave all those months ago and then imprisoned her because she tried to kill her. The thought of that made her laugh as their relationship was no longer the relationship of a slave and an Empress, but two friends, sort of.

"She certainly does as she wants when she wants to do it, doesn't she?" a familiar voice filled the cell.

Gabrielle gasped, lifting her head and her eyes focused in the dark part of the cell. Suddenly a pair of boots and soon a body emerged from the darkness. She rolled her eyes as she saw Ares standing there with his arms folded, looking as smug as ever.

"What do you want?" she glared at the War God. He began to come closer to her and she stood up defensively.

Ares grinned, "I'm not going to fight you. We all who would win that, I mean...come on, I'm a god and you're...well, _you_!" he shrugged. He looked up at the dark sky from the little window she had in the ceiling. "Nice night, isn't it?" he gathered, trying to make small talk.

Gabrielle was not up to talking with Ares. Their last encounter wasn't expected, although she was sure that he often did this. He did not scare her, but he seemed to have some hold over Xena, especially from what she told her about her nightmares...or realities, _what did she call those?_ She shook her head trying to focus her mind on Ares.

"I do not wish to make conversation with you," she responded with a grimace and folded her arms, legs shoulder width apart. She was ready for anything that came her way, god or not.

One of the guards peered into the cell, but saw nobody in there with the blonde. He frowned, "who are you talking to?" he yelled out.

Gabrielle turned her head, "the god of war," she joked, but was very sincere. The guard raised an eyebrow, now thinking that she was mad, he did not let it bother him and went back to his post standing guard.

Ares clapped his hands, "alright, you got jokes. I still don't like you," he sighed leaning against the dungeon wall.

"I never did anything to you, Ares. Why have you come here?" she lifted her chin expecting an answer from the War God.

He shrugged his shoulders and dusted off his black leather vest casually. He grinned, "I gather Xena _still_ didn't tell you about our little deal. I know I've asked before, but this is just for insurance."

She was reluctant to respond, but she furrowed her eyebrows, pursed her lips and shook her head slowly. "Whatever deal she made with you, I'm sure she's buried it by now."

Ares began laughing loudly, filling the room with echoes. "You!" he pointed his finger in her direction allowing his laughter to die down. "You are hilarious. Xena never breaks promises. Perhaps, I should show you what Xena desires..." he walked closer and Gabrielle backed away and ran into the wall, leaving her nowhere else to run or hide. The War God grinned wider as he stepped closer to Gabrielle. He touched her head, her vision began to blur and she felt her body trying to revolt the War God's intoxicating spell. Her body became limp and she slumped to the ground with a loud thump.

* * *

Gabrielle's eyes fluttered open, the cold stone floor against her cheek. She rubbed the back of her head and was sure there would be a bruise there soon. She realized she was not in Egypt anymore and definitely not in a cell. Quickly she rose from the floor and went to the nearest window and saw blankets of snow. Her eyes widened and then turned around scanning her surroundings. Immediately looking for a weapon of some sort she picked up a fire poker, slowly making her way around the room. It was a cold room and by the looks of it, it appeared to be a castle.

She was beginning to understand why Xena was so distraught when she explained her journey that Ares took her on through her past life. Nothing about this place seemed familiar to her though, unlike Xena's mind trip, she was surrounded by familiarities, but Gabrielle was not. She had no idea where she was, but wherever it was, it was far from home, far from Egypt, far from Xena.

"No need for weapons, Gabrielle," Ares appeared in the room leaning against a wall casually. He picked at his fingernails and smiled at the defensive feisty blonde. "You're safe here. Promise nobody will find us here."

She looked around, lowering the weapon deeming it useless by now. "Where is _here_?" she asked, confused.

"To the place of Xena's desires...now that you are here, you get a front row seat," he was behind her now and Gabrielle jumped at his aloofness. He put his hands on her shoulders and walked her to the other end of the large cold room. He guided her to a large circular stone set in the middle of a smaller room attached to the larger room.

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow confused at this. Her hand went forward tempted to touch the stone in front of her. Ares grabbed her wrist and she almost resisted but felt the need not to.

"You can't touch it," he whispered in her ear.

She frowned allowing her hand to come to her side once again. She stared at the two circles on the stone, but there was nothing there. Two empty circles on the stone, but she knew that there was supposed to be something there.

"What are the two engraved circles doing there?" she asked, curious to touch the stone once more.

Ares smiled, "a weapon of great power. A great power only a person with the will to have it...can touch it."

Gabrielle turned to face the War God standing behind her. She smiled, "if there is a weapon, where is it?"

"Missing," he sighed, backing away from her, turning his back to her, smiling devilishly. "There is one way to get it though," he added. Gabrielle stepped closer folding her arms, "and what is that way?" she responded inquiringly.

Ares turned with a grand smile, "Xena needs..desires," he corrected himself, "this weapon, but she needs to do one thing to obtain the weapon."

Gabrielle waited for his response and then saw some mirth in his dark eyes. Now she was sure that he was playing her mind, he was using her for some plan of his. This must be why Xena was so reluctant to talk about Ares around her. Something had been troubling her and Gabrielle just didn't know what it was.

He touched Gabrielle's cheek with a stroke of his fingers, "she needs a sacrifice. You understand don't you?" Gabrielle's face paled immediately after he said that in his cold tone. She now understood why Xena did not want to discuss with her, she was the sacrifice.

_"You understand don't you, Gabrielle?"_

His voice trailed off and Gabrielle awoke abruptly. She was on the sandy ground once more in the cell in Cleopatra's palace once more. She stood up unsure of what just happened, but she was sure that Ares was not joking about the weapon _. Xena, why would you agree to such a thing_?

* * *

The Queen's adviser came to her side and whispered in her ear. A smile once apparent on her lips died as she heard the news given to her. Antony was well off with his wine and women surrounding him. Phraates was enjoying himself as well finally. She stood up, snapped her fingers instructing the musicians to stop playing at once. Antony's laughter died off as the room became silent. He looked up to the Queen and frowned.

The large doors opened and Roman soldiers entered the room. After them Octavius and Solan walked into the Queen's throne chambers. Solan's eyes wandered around the room and saw such debauchery present. He had never seen so many naked women in his life. He wanted to avert his eyes, but he focused himself on Cleopatra and Marc Antony who was still lying on the floor.

"Octavius, to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Cleopatra said and sauntered over to the entrance, stepping over many women and men lying on the floor. She smiled at Solan and winked at him. He cleared his throat and looked away from the Queen's radar eyes.

The Roman emperor peered into the room, "I see we have interrupted your festivities. Is this a homecoming for Marc Antony?" he eyed the traitor behind the Queen's shoulder.

She placed her hand on the Roman's shoulder and grinned. "You can join us if you would like?" she smiled mischievously. She turned her gaze to Solan once more. "We can break you in too, sweet boy," she winked. Solan felt his cheeks flush red.

"I do not think so, your highness. This is strictly business."

Cleopatra sighed hoping that he would join the party but since he didn't she did not want to discuss such matters with the Roman as he interrupted her festivity. "You men can take your business elsewhere," she waved her hand dismissively and went back to Antony, sitting on the floor, inhaling smoke from the opium pipe.

Octavius stepped forward then was stopped by two guards not allowing him to pass any further. He saw some smite in the Queen's eyes. He cleared his throat to assert himself, "my business is not with Marc Antony but with you, my Queen," he bowed his head generously.

She laughed, "with me? I have no business with you Octavius."

"That is not what the letter said that was sent to me," he grabbed the scroll from Solan's grasp and handed it to an Egyptian guard. He brought it to the bemused Queen. She sat up and unrolled the scroll, reading it carefully.

She handed the scroll back to her guard and cackled, "who wrote that forgery? As if I would ever give my empire to a Roman!" she drank some wine from her glass, relaxing her body even more.

Antony had a smug smile as he stared at the Roman emperor, his now foe, and has been for quite some time now. He knew that Octavius felt a fool for coming here now, but also knew that he wasn't going to give up that easily. Octavius wanted Egypt so badly, but also needed Xena here. He was sure she'd be here soon, but did not tell him that. It was to be a surprise.

The emperor frowned, "Perhaps we shall discuss this in the morning when you two are both sober."

Cleopatra smiled, "perhaps we shall, Octavius. If you're not going to join us, then...I shall see you in the morning?" she inhaled a large portion of smoke from the pipe. She saw the Roman emperor turn on his heels, shaking his head. His guards followed him as did Solan, but he turned around looking at the Queen once more. She waved goodbye to Solan and he immediately turned around hastening his pace.

"Who is that boy, I do not believe I have seen him before?" she asked Antony in a childlike voice.

Antony watched as the Romans disappeared behind the doors and retreat back to their ship for the evening. "Someone very special to Octavius I gather..." he festered on this idea and let it sink into his head. He had seen the boy when he was young but never really paid attention to him before. It was obvious that Octavius was primping the boy to become the next Roman emperor. He did not want to see another Caesar rule over the Roman empire again. It was bad enough that this was the second Caesar to rule. He focused his attention back to the drunken women and Cleopatra by his side, slowly enticing her to kiss him once more.

* * *

The following morning everyone was still in the throne room passed out on the floor including the Queen and Antony by his side. Phraates laid barely clothed holding the opium pipe in his hand, mouth agape.

The doors immediately swung open and Xena smiled at the fallen drunken fools. She head butted one of the guards and pinched the other with her fingers at his throat and he fell to the floor. She saw some of the guests stir awake from the ruckus. She smiled as she stepped over the guests and some finally saw who she was. They grabbed their clothes and gasped, desperately trying to get up to leave the room.

"Leaving so soon?" she pointed her sword at one of the Queen's handmaidens. She scanned the thin woman's body. "Does she not feed her servants? What a waste," she kicked the woman down on the ground and stepped over her body.

Cleopatra was starting to come to her senses and saw Xena with sword in hand, coming towards her slowly. She yawned, "Xena...you have arrived," she grabbed her gown throwing it over her head, clothing her naked body once more.

Xena grinned and eyes grew with excitement. "You threw a party without me? I am hurt," she said in a flat tone. She finally saw Antony still asleep surrounded by women. She stepped over a few people, purposely kicking them as she made her way to the Roman bastard.

She grabbed him by the arm and thrust him upward, she slapped his face forcing him to awaken. His eyes opened abruptly and he blinked a few times, his vision now focusing on Xena's wild blue eyes. "Oh...Xena," he grinned.

"You have something I want," she pointed her sword at his abdomen. He looked down and started laughing then held his head as the pain increased from last night's party. "Where is she?" she demanded.

Antony smiled and stood up, still sword inches away from his torso. "Do we really have to resort to this, Xena? Are we not friends?"

She frowned, "you're no friend of mine, Antony. Where is Gabrielle?"

Cleopatra was now confused, "who is Gabrielle?" she asked. Antony simply shrugged his shoulders and then Xena pushed the blade closer to him, now the tip grazing his skin.

Xena smiled, "you will tell me where she is. It doesn't have to end this way, Antony." _Not yet, anyway. You will die by my blade._

"By the gods, Antony, just comply," Cleopatra groaned as she felt a horrible headache coming on. It was bad enough that she had to deal with Octavius' unexpected visit and now Xena being difficult as usual.

Antony wanted to keep this charade going on longer but he knew once Octavius would enter the picture that everything will align together. He sighed, "in the dungeon," he responded and Xena lowered her blade.

She threw him on the ground and passed by the two passed out guards. Borias stood at the entrance and she stopped in front of him. "Make sure they don't go anywhere," she demanded. He simply nodded and smiled at the two drunken fools trying to get themselves together.

"This is laughable," he mumbled to one of Xena's soldiers who also had a grand grin on his face.

* * *

Xena found the dungeon easily as she had been to this palace before. She knocked out all of the guards in the dungeon and ran down the stairs to see Gabrielle in a cell by herself. A smile came to her lips as she saw she was alright and unharmed.

"Gabrielle!" Xena exclaimed, unlocking the iron gates with the guard's keys. She stepped into the cell and Gabrielle stood up very surprised that she was here. It felt like she was never going to come to get her, although she didn't really have a reason to save her. She was only a scribe to her. Now that Ares showed her what Xena wanted to do...or what she promised to do she had some doubt in her head about Xena now. She almost felt like she couldn't trust her, but then thought Ares might be making everything up.

Xena did something she would not normally do and brought Gabrielle in for a warm embrace, her body crashing against hers. They pulled away from each other and Xena looked into Gabrielle's green eyes, they seemed sad and not full of joy. There was also no smile present on her lips. Xena frowned and squeezed Gabrielle's arms, bending down to stare directly into her eyes.

"What is the matter? Did you not want to be saved?" she half smiled, jesting.

Gabrielle smiled nervously and shook her head, "no, I am glad you came Xena. I am just...tired," she nodded her head hoping that Xena would be satisfied with that.

Xena smiled warmly and then left the cell, "come, I have unfinished business with Marc Antony," she tread up the stairs once more and Gabrielle followed behind slowly. She stared as Xena quickly made her way to the top of the stairs. The longer she stared the more confused she became.

The conqueror woman looked down the stairs and saw Gabrielle staring at her like a doe. "Are you coming?"

Gabrielle smiled and made her way up the stairs, "yes, of course."


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: some fluff added in here and a few unfortunate obstacles. When will the chaos end? Enjoy lol ;)**

_Chapter 23_

Gabrielle followed Xena through the long halls of Cleopatra's palace. Xena seemed to know exactly where she was going and she was in a hurry. Gabrielle tried to keep her step up with Xena but to no avail, she couldn't. She couldn't get Ares' mind games out of her head and she wanted to confront Xena about it, figuring there would be no good time, she pondered if she should mention it soon.

She groaned, skipping ahead finally a few feet behind the storming conqueror. "Xena!" she called out. Xena did not respond but instead quickened her pace allowing Gabrielle to fall further behind. She huffed and placed her hands upon her hips as she watched Xena about to round the corner until she stopped abruptly. _Finally, she stops_. Gabrielle walked up to Xena and peeked around the large column to see Octavius with Solan and they were both chatting with Cleopatra and a rather hung over Marc Antony. She now understood Xena's apprehension to enter the throne room. It seems that this was all planned by Marc Antony, although it didn't make much sense. Antony hated Octavius and vice versa, yet they were talking like civilized peoples. She couldn't make out what they were discussing but it did not look malevolent.

"Xena, I need to talk to you," Gabrielle whispered. Xena frowned as she watched the elites conversing with each other as if they were friends. "Xena," her whisper became more forced and she then tugged on her arm, causing Xena to turn around with a scowl.

"I don't have time for this Gabrielle," Xena grimaced and focused her gaze back to the throne room.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes and pulled her arm, forcing her body to face hers. Xena still held her sword and it lifted slightly as she was a bit on edge. "Then why don't you just go in there?" she smirked. Xena's eyes dropped to the floor then sighed as a response. "Look, I have something important to discuss with you."

Xena was not in the mood to get into a deep discussion with Gabrielle especially right now. She still had unfinished business with Marc Antony and her time with him was running out. Her mission was to finally rid the world of Marc Antony once and for all. If she couldn't kill a Caesar then she could at least fulfill her blade with Antony's blood. One Roman down, another to go. That's what was on her mind, not Gabrielle's impending words. She looked back to her blonde friend and started fidgeting with her pant-leg. She bit her bottom lip and then smiled anxiously at Gabrielle, who now had her full attention.

" _Yes_ Gabrielle?" she said in a forced nervous tone.

Now that Gabrielle had her full attention, well somewhat full, she didn't know where to begin. She couldn't just dive right in, so she decided to be a bit cryptic. "Well...would..um," she fumbled and Xena's fidgeting worsened as the silence progressed.

"I don't have all day Gabrielle!" her voice was firm, yet not angered. She was irritated as time was not on her side.

Gabrielle exhaled slowly, "if given the chance, would you...uh, w-would you, kill me or perhaps someone you loved...you know..." those last words weren't in her original thoughts, but they kind of blurted out unexpectedly. Her cheeks began to flush, feeling embarrassed that she even said those words.

Xena's eyes widened and her face examined the flushed scribe. She didn't understand where this was coming from and then placed her hand on Gabrielle's shoulder. "Gabrielle, I mean...I wanted to..." she sighed thinking she shouldn't add her last words of the past when she desired Gabrielle dead for trying to assassinate her. "No. I wouldn't kill you." She saw her green eyes flutter at the response, not even wanting to look into hers.

"Whatever is on your mind...we can talk about it later, because we both know how much you like to talk and I don't, right?" she half smiled hoping that her jesting manner would lighten Gabrielle's sudden somber mood. Gabrielle finally looked up to her with a smile nodding her head. Xena's grin widened, "alright. Now, stay here. I'm going in there to break up their little party," she turned but Gabrielle's hold on her arm stopped her.

"Why can't I come with you?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena turned around with weary eyes. "I don't want you getting in the way of what I am about to do." Her voice deepened as her eyes changed from a warm blue to icy one more. Gabrielle knew that look in the conqueror's eyes and she wanted vengeance.

"You aren't going to kill someone are you?" her green eyes wavered and suddenly feeling angry at Xena's thoughts. With the silent response she knew exactly what she was going to do. "Xena, don't go down that path again. It's not worth it."

Xena frowned and snatched her arm from her now-friend's grip. "It's Marc Antony isn't it?" the scribe's voice appeared again stopping Xena from entering the throne room, losing her chance.

"He needs to go, Gabrielle." Xena retorted coldly.

"Why?" she stepped closer to Xena, causing her to feel uncomfortable at the closeness between them. Her eyes wandered refusing to look into Gabrielle's stern eyes.

Xena peered behind the column and saw the trio still discussing and it looked like the conversation was becoming heated. She needed to go in there and without Gabrielle as a distraction. She heard her voice again and she groaned.

"Because I don't want you..." she felt her voice waver. "I don't want him to be a danger to anyone else," she quickly changed her words, feeling that horrible emotion come over her again. She hated this feeling of warmth, of love. It was new to her and it was all so confusing and caused her to lose focus on the task she wished to commit. The last thing she needed was Gabrielle in the way, getting hurt, or killed for that matter.

She backed away from Gabrielle slowly, "I just have to do this," she turned on her heel and marched into the throne room leaving her friend behind. Gabrielle reached her hand out but it was too late as Xena was gone. She peered behind the column fearing the worst. She knew what was going to happen and if she capable of killing again, then...her thoughts began to travel back to what Ares said to her. She held her throat, breathing in slowly. _She wouldn't kill me, no, she wouldn't_. That feeling of doubt began to encompass her mind the longer she waited in the hallway outside the throne room.

* * *

Xena waltzed in twirling her sword casually with a determined look on her face. "Is this a Roman party? No Greeks invited?" her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Solan turned and immediately frowned at her. He glared at her as she came closer. Now she stood next to him and continued glaring. Xena felt the glare of her son on her but did not look at him, as she couldn't bring herself to.

"you're a Thracian," Antony replied with a smug smile. Xena rolled her eyes and pointed her sword in his direction.

"You and I have unfinished business, but first...what is going on here? A new treaty perhaps? Without me present?" Xena winked at Octavius, enticing him to join in with her riddle game that she was so famous for.

Cleopatra cleared her throat, "Octavius wants Egypt, but I kindly refused his offer."

Xena nodded, "so you side with Marc Antony, interesting." She tapped her blade's tip on the marble floor.

Octavius couldn't keep quiet anymore, "Xena, this is a business deal. You don't own Egypt nor are you Her ruler. You have no say in this and you shouldn't even be here." He frowned. Solan raised an eyebrow folding his arms, completely agreeing with his uncle.

Xena looked to Phraates who stood in the back behind Antony. She sauntered over to him, walking behind the Roman emperor and her son quietly. "Phraates...are you in this deal with Marc Antony? You now he is only using you, he doesn't care about you or your station. All he cares about is that little Egyptian trollop over there," she eyed Cleopatra and winked at her.

Cleopatra immediately called her guards over to detain Xena. Xena heard the footsteps near and she let out a loud cry, her sword clashed against the guards' blades and she sliced them in several different places. Blood began to seep from their fresh wounds and she growled, turning to Antony who was trying to flee her. "Oh no, you don't get to run away, not again!"

Antony ran with Cleopatra as they tried to flee to a safer area. Octavius' men pulled their bows out and he instructed them to aim at Xena. She ran towards Antony and finally caught up to him, plunging her blade into his torso swiftly. Xena grinned more as she pushed the scimitar in further. Cleopatra turned to see Antony's blood dripping onto the marble and flowing out of his mouth.

Xena smiled and then gasped as she felt an arrow strike her in the back. She looked down and saw the arrowhead sticking out of her right shoulder. She winced and fell to her knees, feeling her vision fading slowly. It felt as if everything was going in slow motion as her head hit the marble. She saw Cleopatra run to Antony as he knelt on the floor with the blade still inside his chest. Her eyes wandered and saw Gabrielle coming to her aid with a worrisome face.

"Xena? Can you hear me? Xena?" Gabrielle's voice became faint as her eyes started to flutter to a close. Gabrielle slapped Xena's face several times but she did not awake. Her pulse was still there, so she was alive. The arrowhead was not in a severe spot and she wondered why Octavius would do such a thing. She turned around to see Octavius and Solan standing at a distance.

"Why did you do that?!" Gabrielle yelled, getting up off the floor.

Octavius gestured to his guards to grab the blonde. "She will live. She's mine now," he nodded turning on his heel heading for his ship to go back to Rome. Solan turned to see Xena on the ground.

"Get Xena and put her on the ship with the scribe," Solan demanded the soldiers and they immediately picked her up in their arms, carrying her limp body back to the coast.

* * *

Gabrielle woke up and her jaw was rather sore. She realized she was on a ship once again. She had escaped Antony but only to be captured by another tyrant it seemed. Ropes and chains were tied around her wrists and she groaned, knowing she couldn't break free. She glanced over in the corner of the dark room and saw Xena lying down on a cot. The arrow was gone and she was patched up. She was stripped of her armor, gauntlets and boots. All she wore was a bandage around her breasts and her black pants.

"Xena..." she called out softly, but she received no response. "Xena!" she picked up a glass with her foot and tossed it into her direction hoping the noise would awaken Xena, but it didn't. Gabrielle sighed, feeling more lost than ever. She knew that Xena should have never gone in there to do what she did. Marc Antony was not a good person, but now they were captured by the Roman emperor and that was never good. She was beginning to think that this life that Xena lead was finally going to come to an end. Xena had a very colorful life and she was fairly young, she didn't want her life to go to waste because of a Roman emperor.

While she was being drug out to Octavius' ship she saw an Athenian ship and figured it was Xena's. Most of her men were on the ship along with Borias. He watched from the ship's deck as she was being pushed by Roman soldiers and Xena carried behind her. Her eyes conveyed help and plead. Borias did not try to intervene as he knew he wouldn't win especially if Octavius had an unconscious Xena.

The moment she thought of Xena's men not helping and Borias standing on the ship unwilling to move, brought questioning thoughts to her. That feeling of doubt was starting to haunt her and she no longer trusted anyone, not even Xena. Her eyes trailed over to Xena's sleeping state and she hoped she was alright as she hadn't awoken. Her chest rising and falling slowly, but not stirring at all.

Solan walked down the stairs and saw Gabrielle staring at Xena's unconscious body lying there on the small cot. Gabrielle frowned at him. _If only you knew, Solan_.

"She's quite a fighter, but yet did not see the arrow coming did she?" Solan gathered and smiled. He walked over to the conqueror and touched her limp hand, lifting her arm slowly and releasing it. Her arm fell against her side with a loud thump once more.

Gabrielle sighed, "Solan, why does Octavius want Xena? He doesn't want her dead, obviously," noting the cleaned wound from the arrow tip.

"For insurance I think. I will enjoy seeing her awaken once the medicine wears off," Solan sighed and leaned against one of the ship's posts.

The blonde was tempted to scoff but held back her emotions. She didn't understand why Solan was becoming more and more like his Roman uncle, but the truth was, he didn't know anything about warfare. He just wanted power and obviously desired to see Xena suffer. "You like to see her suffer?" she asked cautiously.

Solan looked at Gabrielle then to the sleeping Xena. He shrugged, "I thought she was so amazing because of her swordsmen skills and her ability to fight off anyone that comes her way." He sighed and continued, "but then I realized, she's just a horrible woman who needs to be stripped of her crown."

Gabrielle dared to ask, "what did she do to you for you to say such hateful words?"

Solan became irate and slammed his foot on the ground, "she undermines my uncle's position as emperor and so she undermines me as I am his future successor!"

Gabrielle jumped back surprised at Solan's irrational outburst. She now understood where he got that from. It certainly wasn't from Borias as he seemed more level headed than Xena at times. "Her hatred for Romans goes back way before you..." she lamented. "She doesn't hate you, Solan."

He started laughing profusely. "You expect me to believe that? The woman that impales innocents for sport and starves her empire for wealth and power?"

"She's not like that anymore," Gabrielle defended Xena's recent actions, although that was difficult since she just murdered Marc Antony out of revenge. She realized how ridiculous that sounded given what she had done.

Solan smiled and looked at Xena's limp body once more. Her waist length raven hair touching the wooden floorboards as she lay there almost useless. "We shall see what her condition is in the morning. We arrive in Rome tomorrow evening." He nodded bidding his farewell to the top deck.

Gabrielle sighed and let her head hang low. "I'm sorry Xena. You shouldn't have come to save me, then this wouldn't have happened to me...to you," she stifled an embarrassed laugh. "You can't even hear what I'm saying," she shook her head. "I suppose it's a good thing. You wouldn't like to hear that Solan thinks you hate him. I know you don't, he's just...misguided." she spoke to Xena's sleeping body, hoping that she'd wake up but didn't. She rammed her head against the post she was tied to and groaned.

* * *

The following morning Xena felt a sting in her shoulder and her eyes shot open. She looked around and knew instantly she was on a ship as she felt the subtle rock of the ship from the calm ocean. Groaning she touched her bandage and it had bled through. She didn't know how long she had been out but it couldn't have been long as they were still at sea. Xena's eyes traveled the ship's room and saw Gabrielle slumped over tied to a post. Her heart sunk, thinking her dead she slowly swung her legs over and tried to stand up but fell to the floor.

Gritting her teeth she managed to crawl on her knees and one arm to reach Gabrielle. "Gabrielle," she said in a hoarse voice. She touched her cheek gently and finally the blonde lifted her head, opening her eyes widely.

"Xena! Thank the gods you're alive. I thought you were dead for awhile," Gabrielle said. She saw the blood stained bandage around Xena's shoulder and frowned.

Xena smiled, "it's nothing that I can't handle," she reached around and began untying Gabrielle's ropes around her wrist. "Who's ship are we on?"

Gabrielle didn't want to answer that question but saw Xena's determined eyes. "Octavius' ship. I fear this trip to Rome will not end well, Xena. We need to get out of here." Xena winced from moving her shoulder too soon and Gabrielle grabbed her arm as her hands were now free. "I don't think we're going to get out of here with you like this?"

Xena smiled and scooted to lean against a large chest, resting her shoulder. She felt so weak everywhere in her body. "That arrow..." she said in baited breath. "Was poisoned. I can feel it in my legs, my lungs." She coughed, wincing some more.

Gabrielle sat in front of her touching her wound softly. She unwrapped the soiled bandage and saw the wound needed to be cleaned again. She immediately felt bad about everything. "I'm sorry, Xena."

"Why are you sorry? You did not do anything," Xena frowned, confused at Gabrielle's strange apology.

Gabrielle felt angry at herself and huffed, "because I got captured by Marc Antony and now this is my fault you're hurt... _and_ on this ship!" she bit her bottom lip.

Xena smiled shaking her head, coughing a bit more. "There are a lot of things you can blame yourself for Gabrielle, but this is not one of them."

She did not respond and instead a few silent moments passed between them. Gabrielle expected Solan or someone to come down here at any moment so she quickly doctored Xena's wound the best she could. She tore off a part of her blouse and wrapped it around Xena's shoulder and arm.

Xena watched Gabrielle as she tended to her arm and never realized this woman was good at so many things. Which that reminded her of something back in the palace. "Gabrielle," she blonde looked up at her blue eyes.

"Back in the palace...why did you ask me if I would kill you?" she was very curious, now allowing her mind to actually process what she said to her. Before she was so focused on killing Antony that she did not truly listen to what Gabrielle was saying.

Gabrielle definitely didn't want to answer that question. She thought that Xena would have forgotten about that little spout.

Xena looked into Gabrielle's eyes, "Gabrielle?"

The blonde finally finished wrapping her arm and started to pull away until Xena grabbed her wrist. She looked at Xena's faint grip and didn't have the heart to leave her with an unanswered question, yet she didn't wish to tell her about Ares either. "I just thought about it. I mean, you wanted to kill me before. Several times actually," she grinned jokingly. She realized that Xena did not find that funny nor was it the answer she was looking for either.

She cleared her throat rubbing the back of her neck, "Ares came to –"

Octavius walked into the room with Solan behind him with two elite guards. Gabrielle looked behind her since she was interrupted. Thankfully, she thought, because she didn't want to explain that to Xena right now. Xena grimaced at the two standing over her and Gabrielle. Although Gabrielle was free from the ropes, the chains were still around her ankles, restricting her from moving any further than she already was.

"I'm impressed you were able to move that far of a distance Xena," Octavius smiled folding his arms.

Xena tried to get up but it proved more difficult with each movement. Her air became constricted the more she shifted her torso trying to stand. She eyed Solan who seemed satisfied that she was suffering. "Why shoot with me a poisoned arrow, Octavius? I didn't think you were that cowardly," she smirked, then coughed.

Solan frowned at the slain conqueror woman on the floor. Octavius saw he was very irritated at Xena's outburst so he put his arm in front of him preventing him from making a move on Xena.

"She is no threat to us, Solan. The conqueror is conquered," he smiled, feeling that he had done his adopted uncle justice in the long run. Caesar always wanted to kill Xena, but he could never capture her, but _he_ did. He actually had Xena and alive as well. He wanted to see her suffer. The poison would slowly seep out of her pores in a matter of days, so she would be alive and well. Unlike his uncle, he wanted Xena alive, to negotiate with.

"Keep the guards here with them. Make sure the blonde doesn't do anything she'll regret later," Octavius eyed his best men and went back to the deck with Solan in tow.

Gabrielle turned back to Xena who was still coughing, more violently than before. "Solan has proven to be a fierce Roman..." she whispered. Xena narrowed her eyes as a response.

"Yes...I no longer can blame Borias for that, but only myself," she said barely above a whisper, intently watching the guards. Her eyes focused on Gabrielle again and recalled her saying something about Ares. "You were going to say something earlier. You mentioned Ares. Did he...did he come to you?" she coughed lightly and saw a drop of blood on her hand from her nose.

Gabrielle's eyes widened and ripped off another piece of her clothing to dab Xena's bloody nose. Xena scrunched her nose and waved the cloth away from her.

"I don't want you to baby me, Gabrielle. It's just a bloody nose," she wiped her nose with the backside of her hand, sniffling afterward. "I really hate that," she smiled crookedly.

Gabrielle didn't understand why but she smiled at Xena's joking behavior in the midst of all this chaos. "You hate what? Me babying you or your bloody nose?"

Xena leered, "both." She now wanted to focus the attention back on Ares. She knew that Gabrielle was acting strange and this would explain everything. "So Ares," she casually said.

She sighed knowing that Xena wasn't going to give that up. Out of all the things that was going on, that's what she cared about the most. "He...showed me where the weapon was located. The greatest weapon, as he told me."

The conqueror's eyes lightened at this. She had not even seen the weapon herself and was rather intrigued by this that Gabrielle had seen it, but then her heart sank. She soon realized that Ares must have told her about the little deal she made with him but she let Gabrielle continue on.

"He said..you needed a sacrifice to obtain the weapon and that sacrifice would be me..." Gabrielle's voice filled with sorrow and Xena sighed at this.

Xena touched Gabrielle's hand, trying to get a grip on it, but her body proved to weaken as time passed by. "I did make a deal with Ares. And..." as much as she didn't want to admit it, "I _did_ agree." She saw Gabrielle's eyes look to the floorboards. Her fingers slowly trailed into Gabrielle's palm hoping that she was being sincere enough here.

"But I am not going to go through with it. If I take Ares' offer, it will somehow stab me in the back like all of his other games in the past."

Gabrielle lifted her chin to see a weak Xena in front of her. She was a conqueror, yet she was the one who was conquered here and it was almost sad to see. She looked defeated and very weak. "Even if you wanted the weapon, would you kill someone else for it?"

Xena smiled, "perhaps I would...a few months ago. I would be lying if I said I didn't want it." she felt ashamed to admit that. Her desire for a great weapon was still inside her but she wasn't willing to kill for it –killing Gabrielle.

This seemed to satisfy Gabrielle but she was still unnerved that Xena _still_ desired the weapon even after she was willing to go through with the deal with the War God. Yet she was thankful that she would not be sacrificed, but that doubt still lingered in her mind. It took awhile to trust Xena, a long while, but she knew Xena had changed quite a lot, although killing Marc Antony was a step backwards in the wrong direction.

"My brother is still in Athens," Xena changed the subject quickly, now thinking of her dead brother, Toris.

Gabrielle nodded, "if we get out of here, what are you going to do with his body?"

"Take him back to Amphipolis to be buried next to Lyceus, our younger brother," Xena smiled warmly thinking of her younger brother. She was always so close to him growing up and she blamed herself for his death. She blamed herself for a lot of things gone wrong in her life.

"Hopefully we can get out of this mess," Gabrielle said hopelessly. She looked back at the guards who stood stoically, not paying attention to them as they spoke quietly together.

Xena coughed some more and gripped Gabrielle's finally, tightly. Gabrielle scooted closer to her, careful not to touch her shoulder or sore arm. "You...y-you underestimate me Gabrielle," Xena managed to say with a faint grin.

Gabrielle wanted to believe Xena, but in the state that she was in now, she had doubts. A lot of them. She returned the tight grip with a squeeze of her hand. She now felt that she needed to revert back to her training as a Roman again and she focused her mind on devising a plan.

"So what is the plan now?" she smiled and Xena returned the smile, a confident smile.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: I decided to break this up into two parts as I cannot address everything I want to into a single chapter as it is very important! Enjoy and thanks for reading ;)**

_God Battles –Part I_

Upon arriving in Rome the following evening Xena began to sweat feeling the toxins from the poisoned arrowhead seeping from her pores. Her wound still fresh but the bleeding had clotted since they arrived to Rome. Octavius and Solan went to their separate quarters to clean up for the evening. Xena was carried in by two men on a cot and was brought to the Roman baths.

She looked at the ceiling and slowly turned her head to see a steaming bath next to her and a few maidens awaiting for her arrival it seemed. The men bowed and left the room quietly. One of the maidens closed the curtains to respect Xena's privacy.

"First he shoots me with a poisoned arrow and now he wants to pamper me," she smirked at the Roman emperor's strange behavior. If it were her she would have just killed the enemy instead of incapacitating them for awhile and then bathing them with expensive Arabian oils and Greek soaps. As she was helped up slowly from the cot she noticed that she was indeed alone and without Gabrielle once again.

"Where is Gabrielle?" Xena asked as one of the maids was taking off her black pants, ripping the seams carelessly. She was tempted to smack the young woman but she did not have the strength to.

The maid began unwrapping the bandage around Xena's breasts, leaving her fully exposed. Her body pale and thin unlike her usual olive tone, she felt like a pale Gaul woman instead. "You mean the blonde one?" she asked Xena in a meek voice. Xena simply nodded and was helped into the steaming hot bath water, wincing as her shoulder was still sore from the fresh wound.

"She will be tended to elsewhere. The emperor instructed us to bathe you first for tomorrow," the girl began squeezing a damp cloth onto Xena's skin, rubbing gently while the other young girl rubbed Xena's opposite arm with essential oils.

Xena did not feel like a prisoner but a very pleased house guest right now. She was unsure why Octavius would allow this, it didn't seem like his style. Although he was not a tyrant or a murderer, he did not give his enemies a measly death. He made sure they were given horrible executions as did she, but this..this was new to her. Once the young maid wet Xena's hair she saw out the corner of her eye a pair of sheers.

"What are you doing with those?" Xena asked, a bit afraid that she was going to die in this bath, but the girl smiled and picked her hair up from out of the warm water. Xena heard the legs of the sheers snipping away on her long raven locks. She turned her head slightly around and saw at least ten inches of her hair lying on the ground next to the maiden's legs. Her eyes widened and she tried to resist but her shoulder prevented this move.

"Why are you cutting my hair?" Xena asked fearfully. To a cut a woman's hair in her eyes was to shame her, although she was left with plenty of hair, at least to the middle of her back, she felt like a piece of her was chopped away, literally. The young girl then put the sheers down and began brushing Xena's wet locks gently, but did not answer her question. Xena looked to her hair and reached for it, grasping the wet strands in between her fingers. A piece of her was now gone, but she felt as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders –like she was getting rid of her past and burying it for good. The wet strands of hair glided off her fingers as she pulled her hand away slowly.

An hour or so later Xena was lifted out of the water with a new bandage wrapped around her shoulder and the two girls dried her off with a soft towel. She did have to admit that she felt better after the bath but was still confused and still had no idea where Gabrielle was.

"Am I going to see Gabrielle now?" she asked hopefully.

One of the girls smiled, "you will be shown to your room now." She wrapped a silk robe around Xena's exposed flesh and left the room with the other maid. Two guards now appeared from behind the curtains and she raised an eyebrow. Her legs still felt weak as did the rest of her body. Xena did not wish to fight back as she knew she would lose inevitably so she complied in allowing them to help her walk to her room for the remainder of the evening.

* * *

Gabrielle was bathed on the other side of the emperor's palace and was given new clothes to change into for the time being. She was escorted out of the baths by a young guard down a long hallway. She discussed with Xena on the ship not to cause any mischief while they were in the hands of Octavius. She was alive and well but Xena was injured and could not protect herself for a long period of time so Gabrielle complied with Xena's suggestion and stuck with the plan.

Her eyes admired the Roman palace, although it was not as extravagant as Xena's it was still lovely and decorated quite well. She had a hard time believing that Octavius actually liked all of the tapestries and draperies in the palace. She tried to look beyond the guard to see if she saw Xena but alas she did not. She had no idea where she could be at this moment. Stopping abruptly they came to a large door, Gabrielle instantly knew where she was –Octavius' office.

The large doors were opened and Gabrielle walked inside after Octavius gestured her to come in. She saw Solan sitting down across from Octavius and she opted to stand while she was here. Keeping her mouth shut she would allow the emperor to have all the say.

"Every time we meet it seems to be because of Xena's power games," Octavius mentioned with a smug smile, sipping some wine. "Yet here you stand, without Xena." Gabrielle's response was silence and he knew that this was some kind of game that she and Xena had put together while on the ship.

Solan looked Gabrielle up and down carefully and he saw that she noticed this and her body stiffened. He poured a glass of wine for the blonde and gave it to her. She eyed the glass then Octavius, and after a few moments she gradually took the wine offered to her.

"It isn't poisoned." Solan smiled, drinking from his own glass.

Gabrielle nursed the glass in her palms, "I did not suggest that it was..." she chose her words carefully.

Octavius leaned forward in his chair, lacing his fingers together, twirling his thumbs as he stared at Gabrielle. "You were once Xena's gladiator and now you are her scribe. You have many trades." Gabrielle's posture straightened and she did not respond. "Amazing how you were able to elevate yourself from a slave to a scribe in a matter of months," he gathered, thinking it very suspicious.

"Maybe I proved to her I am more valuable as a scribe than a gladiator," Gabrielle finally spoke getting the emperor's attention as well as Solan's.

"You seem like a smart girl, Gabrielle, so I won't waste your time with riddles like Xena loves to do," the Roman smiled, getting more comfortable in his chair. "Xena...she has a lot of land, a great empire that rivals the Roman empire. How is she so successful if she terrorizes the people?" he asked.

Gabrielle gulped feeling a bit on the spot, but she wanted to defend Xena. Although she once hated her, she no longer did. Xena was a complex woman, but she is trying to change, she knew that, she saw it.

"As Caesar said, you must 'divide and conquer' and that's what she did. But she knew that she couldn't stay in that mindset forever, so she needed a change."

Solan interrupted, "and you're that change?" he smirked. Gabrielle eyed him but ignored his comment.

"I knew Xena as a destroyer of nations when I was young, but now that I know more about her and her desire to change...I believe she can. She is not the woman she once was," Gabrielle felt like Xena really needed to be in this room with her right about now. She began to think of Xena's words when she often said her words of wisdom were described as philosophical bullshit, as Xena put it. This is what Gabrielle had to do, she was good at talking, she just needed to spout some of that philosophical bullshit to these Roman elites to seem charismatic.

She cleared her throat, "you see Octavius, Xena possessed the power to rule these lands, but she ruled with fear. Now...n-now she wants to rule with trust and honesty, something that will prove to work in the long run. She has proved she can do this by appealing to her people, talking to them as if they are equals to her."

The Roman emperor rubbed his chin enjoying this show that the scribe was putting on. He never realized this woman had such a way with words, but he knew why Xena kept her now. "Very well, Gabrielle. You've proven to me that Xena means well, but her past actions do repeat themselves. She has murdered Marc Antony, a Roman elite. Although I don't care for the man, and am quite grateful he is dead.." he sighed, "Xena must be put on trial for the crimes she has committed."

Gabrielle did seem this was fair but she also thought that none of the other rulers had to be put on trial. This just proved that the Romans truly hated Xena as an Empress of Athens. She immediately thought of an idea that might benefit Xena, "let me defend her in trial. I am more than capable."

Solan scoffed, "Xena is very lucky to have a friend like you." He sipped from his wine glass. "But my uncle has another proposition that must be addressed," he eyed the emperor and Octavius nodded his head. Gabrielle looked to the blonde ruler awaiting his next proposition.

"A game is to be held tomorrow. I know Xena loves the Roman games of gladiators. She was so anxious to enter you in the last one," he hissed.

Immediately Gabrielle got goose bumps and she swallowed hard, setting her wine glass down on the emperor's desk. "You want _me_ to enter the games?"

Octavius and Solan smiled at one another. "No we want Xena to compete," Octavius said. Gabrielle's heart sank at this. She did not know how Xena would compete in the games with her injury.

* * *

Xena did not sleep well knowing that she was in the emperor's palace and in a quite nice suite in the east wing. Two guards burst into her room and she sat up in her bed, wrapping the sheets around her body.

"You're needed. Ordered by the emperor himself," one of the guards said. Xena was pulled up out of the bed wincing as her shoulder was jolted from the harsh movement of the guard.

Once she was dressed somewhat she was put into a wagon with chains around her ankles and wrists. She peered through the curtains and saw she was in the busiest part of Rome. She hid her face and pulled the curtains to a close. A few moments later the wagon came to a stop and she was forcefully taken out of the wagon and saw she was at the arena. Completely oblivious to what was going on she was sure she wasn't going to be watching the games as the guards lead her to the barracks of the arena. She heard the crowd above her and sighed as she pulled to a room where some Roman armor was waiting for her.

Xena smiled, "is that for me? You shouldn't have," she sarcastically added, grabbing the armor from the soldier and gladly placing it over her frame. Her wound started to bleed as the hole had opened up again since she was moving her shoulder a lot from putting on the armor and tightening it carefully.

* * *

Gabrielle sat with Octavius in the balcony feeling sick to her stomach. She didn't know why Octavius wanted this to happen and why Xena had to go through with this. She would gladly take her place and she even begged the emperor but he was not keen on the idea. He definitely wanted Xena to suffer and suffer well. It wasn't enough that she was humiliated and injured by a measly arrow but now she had to compete in an unfair state. She sunk into the chair unwilling to look at the arena.

Octavius stood and raised his hand quieting the crowd. Gabrielle's eyes went to the empty seat which was obviously Solan's seat and she frowned. _Where could he have gone_?

"Romans!" he shouted, "I have for you, the Empress of Athens, the Destroyer of Nations, the Warrior Queen of Qin, Persia, Greece, Egypt and Thrace –Xena!" he gestured for the guards to open the gates now. Some of the crowd cheered while majority sent out cries of discontent and hatred towards her.

Xena stepped out with simple Roman battle armor, gladiator sandals and a Roman sword in her hand. She was not provided with a shield and wore a brace around her injured shoulder. She walked to the middle of the arena surveying the crowd. Squinting her eyes she saw Gabrielle standing next to Octavius. She smiled at her and lifted the sword high into the air, receiving mixed cries from the crowd.

_This is what you want Octavius? Fine you'll get a show you won't forget._ Xena saw the opposite gates open and a soldier came riding in on a black war horse with a shield and a sword. She looked to the soldier's frame and took in every angle, noting the horse's weak spots she needed to cut the knees of the horse first before she could strike the soldier.

"And here we have the Black Ryder," Octavius shouted once more and Xena's opponent raised his weapon and shield causing the crowd to cheer loudly. Xena rolled her eyes, and did not wait for the emperor's cue to let the fight begin. She ran towards the horse and slid onto the sand cutting the horse's two front knees and sliced the underbelly of the animal. She somersaulted into a standing position feeling her head and vision perish at her sudden moves. Her body still weak from the poison was not going to stop her and she certainly wasn't going to die.

The horse cried and fell to the ground. The crowd's gasps were very audible and Gabrielle did not shy from a smile as Xena was able to get the first move against her opponent. The Roman soldier came crashing to the ground as the horse fell, blood seeping from her wounds. He scowled and stared directly at Xena who stood twirling her sword in hand.

Two more gates were opened and three men riding horses came charging at Xena. The Black Ryder grinned beneath his helmet and jumped onto one of the horses with one of the men. Xena backed away as one of them had a net, another with a double edge sword and the third carrying a whip, cracking it against the sand.

Gabrielle leaned forward in her seat and now was beginning to sweat. Xena was surrounded by three horses and three deadly weapons. She knew that Xena was not up to her usual standard and that's what Octavius wanted. She peered at the Roman sitting next to her and he had a smug smile on her face. Tempted to roll her eyes she reverted back to watching the horrible sight in front of her.

Xena smiled at all three of the horsemen and threw her sword forward plunging it into the swordsman's chest, causing him to fall off his horse and onto the sandy ground. The crowd booed at her and she flipped backwards onto the horse behind her and grabbed onto the man's whip, tying it around his neck. She kicked the horse's side and began riding around the circular arena. She shook her head trying to focus her vision again. The man choked as Xena tightened the whip around his windpipe. Finally she threw him off the horse, sure that he would die of asphyxiation. Xena grabbed the reins of the horse and peered behind her to see the last horsemen following her with the net.

She grinned widely and thought it would be crazy to do such a thing but she steadied herself, ignoring the fact that her body was not agreeing with the sharpness of her mind at the moment. She slowly stood up on the running horse and faced the men riding behind her. She cracked the whip, scaring the men's horse causing it to turn in a different direction. She realized that the Black Ryder sitting behind the horseman was controlling the horse and so she took off her helmet throwing it to the Black Ryder, knocking him off the horse.

Xena sat back down on the horse and took control of the reins, galloping alongside the arena walls, occasionally looking back to see the net man catching up to her. "You aren't going to give up are you?" she mumbled and her hair flew into the wind as she tried to make the horse gallop faster around the arena. The abruptly pulled the reins of the horse slowing it tremendously allowing the net man to pass her up. She smiled and began riding behind him now, cracking the whip at the horse's behind.

The Black Ryder soldier groaned and got up from the sand, spitting out some blood. Furious he saw that Xena was indeed winning and he did not know how because she was injured. He had underestimated her obviously. Irritated he ran to grab a spear and aimed it towards Xena. He closed one eye and threw the javelin at Xena's horse, causing it to rear end her off the saddle and she cried out as she landed on her injured shoulder.

The crowd gasped, cheered and booed all at the same time. The horseman with the net turned his horse towards Xena and she tried to get herself up off the ground but she was not quick enough. The net was thrown on top of her and she struggled to get free.

Gabrielle stood up and saw Xena was being drug inside the net and she gasped.

Octavius saw the scribe's concern and touched her arm, "and she was doing so well, wasn't she?" he smirked.

She frowned, "you're going to kill her!" she yelled and turned her attention back to the games at hand. The younger soldier grabbed a sword from the weapon wrack and waltzed to the center of the arena. The horseman came to a halt and threw Xena to the middle. Sand in her hair and eyes as well as many cuts across her face and arms.

Xena got free of the net and groaned, holding her arm as her shoulder was dislocated now. She saw the Black Ryder point a sword at her throat and her eyes widened. She had never felt so defenseless in her life, she was too injured, poisoned and had no available weapons. The sunlight was blinding her and she squinted, covering her eyes with her uninjured arm. The soldier stepped in front of Xena, blocking the sun, still holding the blade up to her neck.

She grinned breathing out slowly, "why don't you give the crowd what they want?" she challenged the soldier, sure that he wouldn't kill her, although the closer he got to her neck she began to worry this is where she was going to die.

"you would like that wouldn't you?" the Black Ryder said and Xena's eyebrows furrowed, recognizing that voice. He took off the black plumed helm off and threw it to the side, revealing his face.

Her mouth gaped, "Solan!" her voice hissed, disbelieving that he was capable of such acts. She could have killed him a few moments ago, but now the tables were turned.

He smiled, "you look surprised. I told you I have trained with the sword since we last met," he pushed the blade closer to her neck. Xena sat up as much as she could, she used her torso for support and her elbow dug into the hot sand.

Gabrielle covered her mouth and saw who was holding the sword to Xena's neck. Octavius enjoyed seeing her surprised expression and judging from the interaction between Solan and Xena he reckoned that she was surprised as well.

"What does he think he's doing?" Gabrielle asked, demanding an answer from the emperor.

Octavius shrugged his shoulders, "proving that he could be the next great Roman emperor, Gabrielle. This game was his idea."

Her eyes filled with worry for Xena and what Solan might do to her. " _What_?" she said in shock and incredulity.

The crowd was growing impatient from the lack of bloodshed and Xena stared into Solan's doe brown eyes, resembling Borias' and Lyceus' eyes. He reminded her of Lyceus so much because he was passionate, naive, had blonde hair and tanned skin, but the attitude of Borias and temper like hers. She couldn't believe that he would agree to fight her in the arena let alone kill her.

She scooted backwards and sat up some more, causing Solan to take a step forward, inching the blade closer to her. "Remember when I told you that I knew your mother, Solan?" she said in a soft voice.

"What does that matter right now when you're about to die?" he asked, smiling widely.

She smiled softly, "that gold pen given to you on your fifteenth birthday this year, I know you loved it very much." Solan's eyes twitched and he didn't understand so she continued. "On your tenth birthday you were given a desk made of mahogany wood."

Solan scowled and thrust the sword closer to Xena, becoming irritated as she continued onward with this charade. Xena flinched from the sword, unwilling to fight back anymore.

"On your fifth birthday you got a wooden box for your small trinkets you made by hand." A single tear fell from her eye and trickled down her cheek. Solan now understood everything now and his eyes widened, realizing that Xena could have only known this because she was his mother. She sent those gifts to him and her emotion proved his theory to be correct.

"Solan... _please_ ," she pleaded in a whisper. Xena was never known to beg but she felt that she had to, had to make him realize that he was about to make a terrible mistake. Part of her wanted him to do it, but she wanted him to know who she was even if she were to die.

Solan stood there silent and stared out into the restless crowd. Many yelling for bloodshed of the Empress but his eyes revered back to Xena, who was lying on the ground, helpless and defenseless and broken.

Xena swallowed, her saliva coating her dry throat as she stared into Solan's eyes once more. "I love you." She finally said those words that she never thought she'd say to her son. She said those words in silence when he was a baby and after he was taken away but never said them aloud. Now that she finally did she felt a sense of relief and an aura of serenity come over her.

Solan growled, lifting the sword high into the air and swung it downward. Xena closed her eyes and when she heard silence from the crowd and felt her body still intact, she opened her eyes to see the sword in the sand next to her head. Her heart beating faster than ever before and saw Solan walking away from the scene and back into the barracks.

Gabrielle had her eyes closed not wishing to see the end of Xena but opened them slowly as she heard nothing from the crowd except whispers and murmurs. She leaned forward in the seat and saw Xena still very much alive lying on the sand, struggling to stand up with her injured shoulder. She smiled relieved to see Xena alive but Solan had disappeared.

Octavius stood up disappointed that Solan did not get rid of Xena like he said they would. He groaned and he too disappeared from the balcony leaving Gabrielle alone staring off into the arena.

Xena was helped up by some Roman soldiers and carried off from the arena. She stared up into the balcony and grinned weakly at the smiling Gabrielle.

* * *

Back at the palace Solan was in his training room and flipped over a table full of scrolls and maps. He grabbed his sword and began swinging it around aimlessly in the air to relieve his anger. His mind once clear was now fogged up since Xena basically insinuated that she was indeed his biological mother. He once wanted to know who his mother was, but now that he did he wished he never did. Although he agreed to rid Xena from this earth from mother Rome, he couldn't, his heart wouldn't allow him even though his mind disagreed.

Xena was carried back into the palace and was sure she was going to get a verbal beating from Octavius but she spoke to the guards in a tired tone, "where is the emperor's nephew? I wish to speak with him."

The guards eyed her with suspicion. "You can stand guard while I talk to him...please?" she pleaded once more. She had never begged so much in her life. The guards were unwilling to take her to see Solan and continued to carry her to her room to get cleaned up from her fresh wounds and her old one as well as her dislocated shoulder.

She chuckled, "do not be fooled by my condition, fellows," she used the last bit of her strength and knocked over one of the guards onto the floor. The other pulled out his blade about to strike her but she head butted him and pinched his neck, causing him to kneel and gasp for air. She sighed, "should have..just complied, gentlemen. Excuse me," she stepped on the fallen soldier's chest, holding onto her limp arm and walking down the hall, listening to the sound of belongings crashing against walls and slight cursing in the background.

Figuring she was close she stumbled upon Solan's training room which was now a mess. She stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her. Solan immediately saw her enter and became irate.

"Quite a mess you've made," she gathered, staring at the torn scrolls, ruined table and chairs fallen on the floor.

Solan twirled the sword in his wrist and frowned angrily, "you once told me that my mother loved me."

Xena did not flinch nor show any emotion, but stared at him blankly, allowing him to release his anger on her.

"How can someone like _you_...be..." he groaned, "you lie to me, you are not my mother!"

Xena stepped forward and Solan held up his sword in anger so she took a step backward, still holding onto her arm. "Whether you believe me or not I am your mother and I do...love you."

His eyes filled with tears, but too irate to shed them he turned around slicing his blade into the wooden table causing Xena to flinch at the outburst. "I lied to you to protect you," she said in a softer tone than usual.

Solan began laughing at her ridiculous words. "You lie to me to protect me? That's hilarious. You gave me up so you can have your little empire."

"I didn't know that you'd end up here as a Roman," she defended herself.

Solan shook his head not believing a word that was coming out of her serpent mouth. "I find that hard to believe!"

Xena frowned now becoming irritated at her own son. "I told your father to take you away from me and not tell me about your whereabouts. How was I to know that you would end up in Rome?" her breath stunted her words and realized she spoke of Borias unexpectedly.

His eyes changed from irate to now sad and a bit curious. "My father? He still lives?" Xena nodded her head in response, now her eyes staring at the marble floors.

"Get out," he commanded. Xena stood still unwilling to move. "Get out!" he yelled and Xena looked up to see he was quite sincere. She turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

She leaned against the door closing her eyes and another tear streamed down her cheek. She wiped her tears with the backside of her hand. She lingered awhile expecting to hear more chaos in the room but she heard silence. Frowning she opened the door and saw Solan was no longer in the room but the curtains swaying against the gentle breeze from the open balcony. Xena stumbled into the room and went to the balcony and saw Solan riding off on a horse hastily. She sighed wearingly as he departed.


	27. Chapter 27

God Battles –Part II

Two large Roman soldiers threw Xena into a chair in the middle of a room filled with the Roman council and Octavius sitting front and center, merely thirty or so feet away from her. Her wrists were bound in chains behind her back, she glared at the Roman emperor as he had a smug smile.

Gabrielle walked in the room with fresh clothes. Her skin was untouched, her body unharmed. She took a good look at her friend, the once fearless conqueror, now defeated and worn out. Her face and arms were filled with cuts from the games two days ago. Her shoulder wrapped once more, but not from the poisoned arrow, but from her new injury. Xena's eyes trailed over to Gabrielle and she smiled at her warmly.

The scribe came closer and touched Xena's hair. Her long locks were no more. Her waist length hair was now to her mid-back and quite a mess. "They cut your hair..." she marveled, feeling the locks in between her fingers.

Before Xena could respond a Roman soldier came from behind and gagged her with a black silk cloth. Gabrielle frowned, irate at the treatment she was receiving here. Sure, Xena was not an innocent woman, but she did not deserve to be treated like this. All of this because she killed Marc Antony? No it couldn't be _just_ that. Octavius did not like Xena, that much was obvious, but there something more. Something that the emperor was not revealing to everyone. The council looked at Xena as if she were a new animal in a zoo. She was dressed in black pants and a long sleeved black top with a corset. Gabrielle was surprised that Octavius allowed her to have regular clothing on. She figured that he would take this opportunity to humiliate her even more by showcasing her completely naked for the trial.

Although no such things were to happen, Gabrielle was grateful for this, but she still didn't like that Xena was being gagged and had no real sentence, except for her past crimes. That list could go on forever and this trial would go on for weeks if she was to be put on trial for everything she has done.

Octavius slowly took rise from his chair and stared at the gagged conqueror in the middle of the room. He smiled, "Xena. Once you were called the Destroyer of Nations, then a Warrior Queen, an Empress of Athens. Now you are just a conquered conqueror in a Roman court."

Xena's eyes followed Octavius' every move and she did not try to set herself free. It would have been too obvious and too difficult.

Gabrielle stepped forward, "are we beginning this trial?" the Roman emperor eyed the scribe with incredulity and smiled at her. "I mean...wouldn't it be _wise_ to state why she is here? There is no need for introductions. I'm quite sure everyone knows who Xena is..." she grinned nervously.

Octavius nodded, "very well Gabrielle," he sat down in his chair and pulled out a scroll from a basket beside the dais. "Xena of Athens, you have murdered Marc Antony, a Roman elite on Egyptian soil in the presence of Cleopatra."

Xena rolled her eyes at the man. She did not understand what the big deal was. She killed a lot of people in her life, she tried to killed Caesar, although that did not really work out. Marc Antony was an arrogant fool and she was sure that Octavius was glad that he was gone, he just wanted to formalize this act to humiliate her. Xena was not a Roman so therefore it was not very humiliating to her, except the fact she was gagged and tied up in front of old Roman males –that was the only embarrassing thing about this charade.

"Marc Antony would have died anyway," Gabrielle said, shocking the council. Whispers filled the room and gossip clouded the trial. Xena looked her way with a raised eyebrow.

_Gabrielle, what are you doing?_ Xena tried to get her friend's attention. She was aware that Gabrielle indeed saw her but made no intention of showing attentiveness towards her. She furrowed her eyebrows and tried to wriggle her hands to get free of the chains.

"We all know that Xena has killed a lot of people," she went on and circled Xena sitting in the chair with her legs spread apart and ankles chained to the legs of the chair. "But so have you Octavius," she pointed her finger at the emperor.

Octavius smiled, rubbing his chin, admiring Gabrielle's feistiness and honesty.

"So," she began. "If both of you, emperor and empress, have killed before, what makes this kill different than all of the others?"

The emperor's pearly whites showcased to the council. He wanted to laugh at this, she was really putting on a great show, but he stayed quiet and stoic as usual. "Because Gabrielle, Marc Antony was with Cleopatra. We had already worked out a deal together."

Xena's eyes widened and she was sure she was done for once he said that. Lolling her head she wanted to get free of this imprisonment. She scooted forward in the chair and moved her lips trying to carefully loosen the cloth gag. Gabrielle heard the chair legs scrapping the marble floor and turned to see Xena moving, obvious to everyone that she was desperately trying to grab their attention.

The blonde moved to Xena and set her hands on the chair's arms. Xena looked into her green eyes and they were serious...as if a battle were going on inside them at this very moment. "You really should stop doing that. Do you want to stay here any longer than we have to?" she whispered. Xena shook her head, feeling a bit like a child being scolded.

"Good," Gabrielle smiled satisfied that Xena did not argue back –not like she could anyway, at least not very well. "Let me handle this." As she turned around she heard Xena groan and a smirk formed on her lips.

Octavius cleared his throat, enjoying this show. It appeared to be the Xena and Gabrielle show. The council was even smiling at the struggling conqueror in the background as Gabrielle spoke for her.

"Octavius. You said that you discussed a 'deal' with Marc Antony and Queen Cleopatra, right?" Gabrielle asked, folding her arms. The emperor eyed the young blonde and nodded his head. She continued then, "so you must be aware that Xena, being Empress of Athens, must be present to any such territorial discussion to have it finalized, right?"

Mumbling circled the council and ears perked at Gabrielle's words. Octavius shifted in his chair feeling a bit uncomfortable right about now. "The treaty did not concern Xena, she is intolerable and barbaric."

Gabrielle nodded with a big smile, "so she is barbaric sometimes." Xena shook her head, starting to lose faith in her blonde friend. The council mumbled laughs as she insulted her client. Though Gabrielle was not a lawyer, she was skilled in running her mouth, but she also produced facts. Xena was in fact not a likeable person to the masses, but Gabrielle knew her very well, so she thinks. She knows Xena better than any Roman in this very room.

"Many of you know Xena as a tyrant in the Mediterranean. She rules from the White Sea to the Tigris and Euphrates and although I have known Xena all my life, I have come to know her for who she can be...who she will become," her green eyes met Xena's blue eyes and a smile appeared. Xena tried to smile while gagged and although humorous to the council, Gabrielle saw her friend's new found compassion commendable.

Octavius clapped his hands slowly, indicating his disinterest in the fluffiness between the two. "Very nice Gabrielle, but you cannot use sweet words to save Xena. She is –"

"She is what? Is she not a human as well? You can't tell me that emperors have not killed to state their claim." Gabrielle's words created a calamity within the council. Each councilman noted her words and nodded their heads. She smiled proudly, giving herself a pat on the back.

"Caesar has killed many while he reigned, yet he was not punished for his crimes and neither was Brutus, his friend that stabbed him in the back, literally!" Gabrielle added.

The Roman emperor sighed and waved his hand dismissing Gabrielle from her stand. "Alright you've made your point, but," his index finger pointing at Xena now, still strapped to the chair. "she did kill Marc Antony and it was after a treaty had been discussed. Queen Cleopatra will not agree to any more treaties as long as Xena runs free." The council nodded their heads in agreement.

Gabrielle pursed her lips. "Do you mind explaining the treaty then? Since Xena was not privy to it."

"I will explain it," Solan entered the room and walked passed Xena to stand next to his emperor uncle. He stared at his said mother with unclear eyes. He was not sure what to think of Xena anymore. She had lied to him his entire life, believing his parents to be dead, he couldn't believe that they were very much alive. He also couldn't fathom that a conqueror, an enemy of Rome, was his own flesh and blood.

Xena held her breath as she saw Solan on dais with Octavius. She only hoped that he would not blurt anything out in front of the council. It appeared that he did not say a word to Octavius, otherwise this trial may have gone differently.

Solan stepped down, now a few feet away from Xena and Gabrielle standing off to the side watching him wearingly.

"My uncle and I discussed with Antony and Cleopatra that she would release Egypt to Rome. We would have complete control of Egypt," he stared at Xena. "as for Xena, she did kill Marc Antony, but I must confess," he baited his breath, controlling his emotions. "Marc Antony was going to be gotten rid of eventually."

Octavius frowned and banged his fist on the arm of the chair. "Solan what are you doing?!" he yelled. This wasn't supposed to end like this, this wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

Solan ignored his uncle and continued, "in the decree sent to Cleopatra we, mother Rome, asked her to get rid of Antony so we could have control of Egypt." His eyes never left Xena. "Xena just did the deed for us."

"So you're saying that Octavius was going to basically assassinate Marc Antony?" Gabrielle clarified. Solan nodded in response still eyes on his mother. Xena stared at her son, unsure how to feel. He was actually saving her, though she did not know why. She was no mother to him, she had never spent any time with him as a child or a young adult and here he is, saving her the trouble of going to jail or worse. He also put the Roman emperor on the spot in front of his own council.

Solan smiled at the council, "also Xena is not a Roman, she cannot technically be tried under Roman law. She is Greek and has her own empire. And Gabrielle is right, all rulers in the surrounding area are to be notified of new treaties or agreements laid out..."

The councilmen stood and began talking amongst themselves, indicating the trial was over they started to make their exit. Octavius stood from his seat and stared intently at Solan. "Spoken like a true Roman," he nodded and turned on his heel to hastily exit the council room.

Gabrielle stood flabbergasted as to what just happened. She was not expecting that to happen. She noticed Solan walking towards Xena and grabbed a key from his pocket. Xena sat in the chair feeling a bit embarrassed as her son unlocked the chains around her ankles and wrists. The chains fell to the floor and she took the silk cloth out of her mouth, rubbing her cheeks roughly with her fingers.

Xena and Solan stood facing one another, staring into each other's eyes for a few silent moments. "You didn't have to do that," she spoke barely above a whisper.

Solan nodded, "I didn't have to but I did," his crooked smile made Xena grin slightly. He couldn't say if he felt proud or if he just betrayed his own country, his own people, to save his mother. "Sometimes Rome can be unfair," he lamented with a shrug of his shoulder.

Xena smiled and rubbed her sore wrists. There were red marks all over her wrists, ankles, neck and cuts on her cheeks from the games. Her shoulder was still sore and could not move it at all so her left arm remained limp. "I need to get back to Athens so I can take my brother to be buried in Amphipolis," she directed her command to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle nodded and immediately came to her aid to help her exit the room. Solan stood watching Gabrielle hold Xena's weight on her, walking slowly out of the room. He ran towards the two women. "Wait!" he called out. The two women turned and he stopped in front of them blushing slightly. "I can provide you with horses to get back home. We have some of the best." He grinned.

Xena looked to Gabrielle with a warm smile and back to Solan. "I don't think your uncle will be happy if I got out scot-free _and_ took his horses," she continued walking with Gabrielle holding onto her graciously.

He touched Xena's arm, halting her step and her flesh produced goose bumps at his touch. A touch long overdue. "I have my own horses. You can take them, I have a special horse that you will like. She's quite a rider!" he smiled gleefully.

"Alright, let us see this horse," Xena said interested in what he had to offer even though she had already declined.

* * *

Solan brought the two women to the stables without any extra attention put on them. Xena looked at the horses, proud that her son had a love for animals. She too loved animals and lost her best horse during that little tiff at her palace in Athens. He grabbed the reins of a blonde horse with a white mane and smiled, petting the horse's nose gently.

"This is my favorite horse. Her name is Argo, she is really obedient, although sometimes stubborn." He looked to Xena and saw her eyes lit up as he pulled the horse from the stable. "You want to pet her?" he gestured for Xena to come closer.

Xena a bit apprehensive made her way towards the horse. She hobbled over to the magnificent animal and smiled, carefully petting the horse's mane. Argo neighed and shook her head gently as Xena's fingers grazed her white mane.

"She is a beautiful horse," Xena admired the obedience of the horse and it was obvious that Solan took care of the animal. Her coat was very shiny and her build was strong. She handed the reins back to her son, a bit reluctant to stop paying attention to the animal.

Solan smiled and saw Gabrielle with a smirk on her face with her arms folded. Xena walked back to stand next to Gabrielle. She came with nothing, only her ships and those were nowhere to be found now. For all she knew Borias could have taken her ships and went back to Athens or stayed in Egypt. She didn't really care at this moment, she had lost a bit of herself by coming to Egypt and then captured and brought to Rome days later.

"I want you to have Argo, she likes you. She doesn't let anyone pet her except me," he pursed his lips unsure if Xena would take him up on his offer.

Xena shook her head, "she is your horse, not mine. I don't need to take what you love most, Solan."

Solan grabbed Argo's reins again and forced them into Xena's palm. He smiled deeply, "I want you to have her. You have no way to get back anyway," he laughed nervously.

She took the reins and Argo walked towards Xena as if she were no stranger to her at all. She sighed, "why are you being so nice to me?" she mumbled rubbing the back her head.

He shrugged and kicked the sand with his sandal, "just think of it as bartering. I give you my horse and you...allow me to study in Athens." Xena smiled at this but it seemed like he was already settled in Rome and she knew that if she took that away from him that there would be some complications later on.

"You belong in Rome, Solan. You don't belong in Athens, and not with me to say the least," Xena regretfully said. She saw the disappointment in his eyes and that was the last thing she wanted to see in her life. She had waited so many years to see her son and now that he was here and she was able to talk to him freely, she couldn't just up and take him. He belonged where he was raised, not with her in a palace. He was a Roman, not a Thracian, by upbringing.

"You grew up here, this is your home. Athens is not your home. I am...not your home," Xena smiled sadly seeing his disappointment grow. She turned to leave with Argo in tow and Gabrielle following her. As they continued to leave the stables and closing in on the exit Gabrielle turned her head to see Solan standing in the stables tending to another horse.

"That was pretty harsh," she said.

Xena sighed, "but it's true Gabrielle," she continued walking not daring to look back.

* * *

Later in the evening Xena decided to make camp in a large forest. They were traveling very slowly as she was still very injured. They would not make it back to Athens until the next evening. Gabrielle started a fire and poked at it with a twig. Xena sat on the cold soil picking at the dirt beneath her boot. Gabrielle looked over to see a rather pensive Xena. It was rather quiet and the two had not had words since they came upon the forest three hours ago.

"Do you think I did the right thing, Gabrielle?" Xena announced randomly catching the blonde off guard. She looked to her blonde friend and sighed, "I mean...telling Solan he can't come to Athens after all. Was it right of me to say that?"

Gabrielle stopped poking the fire and sat back, crossing her legs and rested her chin on her palm staring at the conqueror woman. "I don't know, Xena. He's your son, but he also has the right to make his own decisions too..."

Xena saw where Gabrielle was getting at and immediately regretted bringing the subject up. She shook her head dismissing the subject altogether. "So you're saying that I should have told him to come to Athens?" she said after a silent pause.

Gabrielle quirked her lips to the side and sighed shrugging her shoulders. "What do you think Xena?"

"I'm thinking that I am not cutout to think for myself," she held her head in between her palms and winced as her shoulder tinged with pain from moving her arm abruptly. Gabrielle scooted closer to her and touched her bandaged shoulder. Xena winced and glared at the blonde. Though Gabrielle was used to the glares she simply smiled at the empress. She was not acting very tough at the moment. She was obviously in pain and refused to show it.

She began unwrapping the bandage and started dressing the wound with some water that they gathered from a stream earlier. Gabrielle dabbed the wound with a wet cloth and Xena stared intensely at the fire in front of her, ignoring the imminent pain from her shoulder wound.

"Next time you get shot with an arrow, make sure to get shot in a more suitable area," the scribe joked. Xena raised an eyebrow at her now friend and Gabrielle snickered.

"I'll get it right next time," Xena replied with a sarcastic attitude.

"There, all finished!" Gabrielle exclaimed a few minutes later after wrapping Xena's wound with a fresh bandage. She patted Xena's knee and left her side to sit back next to the warm fire as the air became more crisp.

A half hour went by rather quickly and Xena was not the least bit tired. Gabrielle had yawned a few times but wanted to make sure that Xena was alright and did not wander off somewhere. She was infamous for traveling off to get into trouble, though there was nobody out here, she still had her suspicions.

Xena began talking softly, "you know when Ares sent me into my past I realized something about myself."

Gabrielle yawned, "what's that?" she asked.

"I'm a never-ending clock. I never stop ticking. But time...it is always consistent and I am not..." she marveled beginning to feel like Gabrielle when she spouted off her words of wisdom. She never thought she'd think like this, but it was annoying. Too many emotions clouded her mind and it irritated her. She didn't know if she should be irritated at her past choices or her new ones.

"That short time I spent with Eve...my daughter," the sound of that made her feel uneasy just even speaking about it. "I felt like I lost that time with Solan, yet I reject him again."

Gabrielle listened carefully to Xena, trying to keep her eyes glued so she wouldn't fall asleep. Xena looked over to her scribe friend and rubbed her chin pensively.

"I don't mean to keep you awake," she noted.

"I am all ears. This is the most I've seen you talk about yourself since I've been with you, Xena. It's...refreshing." she smiled.

Xena nodded, "I told Solan that I loved him and I do, very much. I always have. I loved him before he was born, yet I did not realize that until many years later. I was too focused on myself," she cursed herself for even reliving those times of pain and hurt.

* * *

_Kingdom of Qin –Fifteen Summers Ago_

Xena and Borias left Lao Ma's kingdom in a hurry. The kingdom of Lao was not happy with Xena or Borias. She had betrayed Lao Ma and the kingdom of Qin as well. They were all supposed to align together and form an alliance as one, but Xena had other things on her mind.

They spent a month or so in the outskirts of Qin and were about to head to the land of the Persians next to see what was there for them. Xena rode her brunette horse through the desert and practiced sparing with Borias while on horseback.

Their swords clashed together and Borias smiled as he finally got Xena to release her sword. She frowned and charged at him and his eyes widened.

"You can never lose gracefully can you Xena?" he laughed and stepped to the side on his horse as Xena trotted closer to him.

Xena grinned mischievously. "I don't lose Borias," she kicked the horse in the shin, spooking the animal causing it to fall to the ground. Borias landed on the hard ground with a loud thud. He glared at her as she twirled her companion's sword confidently. She shrugged and rode back to their camp.

A few moments later she dismounted her horse and covered herself with her large cloak. It was winter time in this area of the world and she did not really like the cold. She preferred summer and spring seasons the most not because it was more amenable but also it meant more food and less work for the horses and her men.

Stepping inside the large tent she threw her cloak on the ground and started taking off her clothes gradually one layer at a time. She set aside her skirt and blouse on the pillows nearby and stared at herself in the mirror carefully. Placing a hand over the warmth of her abdomen she sighed and then saw Borias enter the tent from behind. She was completely exposed and she smiled turning to face him.

He came closer to her, grabbing a fistful of hair, kissing her neck softly, bringing the small of her back closer to him.

* * *

Xena stared at the flames again and sighed loudly. "I did not tell Borias until three months later," she explained.

Gabrielle nodded, not feeling the least bit tired after a story like that. "If that happened to you today...would you have reacted like that?"

Xena gazed at Gabrielle for awhile and couldn't even think of an answer to combat that. "I don't know."

Silence passed between them.

"We should go to sleep, we must leave as soon as possible to get back to Athens," Xena laid down on a blanket that Solan had given them along with the horse. She turned on her uninjured shoulder with wide open eyes, not particularly keen on sleep at the moment. So many thoughts swirled in her mind.

"Xena?" Gabrielle said in a small voice.

"Yes?" the brunette answered, not turning over.

"For the record, I think that you'd make a good mother. You just weren't ready at the time." Gabrielle said talking to Xena's backside. She finally turned over and yawned, getting comfortable on the cold ground.

Xena blinked and paused for awhile. "Thanks Gabrielle," she said barely above a whisper. She continued to stay awake staring into the dark abyss.

**AN: dun dun dun...and back to Athens and then on to Amphipolis for some more action. Also, more Ares to come ;) thank you everyone for reading and reviewing.**


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: this is a fluffy chapter before more crap comes back. Enjoy and thank you for reading, everyone :)**

_Chapter 26_

Xena and Gabrielle only stayed in Athens for a couple of days. Xena had decided to cremate her brother's body because of the state he was left in and how long she was gone –the time to get him to Amphipolis had long passed. Xena's injured shoulder had somewhat healed since she arrived back at her palace with Gabrielle, but she could not wield any kind of weapon whatsoever in her left arm.

It was mid-afternoon two days upon arriving back in Athens, when Gabrielle would travel with Xena to take her deceased brother to their homeland. Gabrielle knew that Xena was not much of a talker, everyone knew this, but sometimes she liked when Xena did not talk a lot because it left some kind of mystery to her that nobody could figure out.

Xena decided to go with Gabrielle unescorted to Amphipolis. After all, she nearly died in Rome twice, she did not think she needed her elite guards following her everywhere. She understood that she was _still_ the Empress of Athens, but she could take care of herself if something happened. Also she knew that Gabrielle was equally as capable at defending herself if need be. Together they rode through the vast forestry of Greece, their trip would be rather short since Athens was not far from Amphipolis. Gabrielle decided to take one of Xena's horses and Xena rode Argo, the horse that Solan gave her in Rome.

Gabrielle rode behind Xena, they had just slowed down to a trot and casually strolled through the large cedar tree forest. Her eyes circled their surroundings and smiled, smelling the cedar trees around them. Xena peered behind her shoulder and grinned, marveling at Gabrielle's fascination for nature. She sometimes, wished she could be more connected with nature like Gabrielle was.

She wondered, "when was the last time you came back to your homeland, Xena?" Gabrielle pulled up beside Argo and Xena eyed her carefully.

"I left home at eighteen, after my brother died," she did not wish to remind herself of those times, but it appeared she was to bury another brother because of her selfish intentions in life. She smiled, "I let Lyceus join me in defeating a warlord that came through our village. He was so horrible at fighting."

Gabrielle quirked her smile unsure of what to say to that. She realized that Xena must have been very close to her younger brother, which was probably why she did not talk about him a lot.

"What about Toris?" Gabrielle asked after a silent moments passed.

Xena frowned and pulled Argo's reigns, trotting at a faster pace. Gabrielle, confused undoubtedly, followed Xena catching up to her. She had struck a nerve it seemed.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Gabrielle called out, finally allowing her horse to catch up to Xena's. "I don't understand why you are –were, so angry with your older brother."

Xena sighed and brought her cloak's hood over her head, feeling a bit of rain come down on her nose. She looked to the skies and they had darkened, but it would not storm, just sprinkle for the rest of their journey.

"Because Gabrielle, Toris was a coward."

* * *

_Amphipolis –Eighteen Winters Ago_

Xena ran inside from the forest behind her house and closed the door quietly, making sure not to wake anybody up as it was the middle of the night. She crept to her bedroom and lit a candle to begin changing her soiled clothes. It had rained most of the night and her hair was soaking wet, as were her armored clothes.

"Where were you? You missed dinner _again_ ," Toris leaned on the doorframe of Xena's bedroom. Luckily she had no changed yet, but had her blouse on still, she immediately gasped and covered herself with her slender hands.

Xena frowned and whispered angrily, "get out! I'm trying to change."

Her elder brother smiled at Xena's angry state. He enjoyed teasing her throughout their childhood but now that she was older, it was not fun anymore because she made a big deal out of every little thing. He was much older than her, by five years, and yet she was more mature. Although, tonight and every other night before this one, she had been acting like the teenager that she was.

"You didn't answer my question, Xena," he put his hand on the door preventing Xena from shutting it in his face.

She grunted and took a step away from the door. Xena went to her water basin and began splashing her already wet face, gently dabbing her cheeks with a dry cloth. "you're not mom, I don't have to answer to you."

Toris entered Xena's bedroom and closed the door behind him so they wouldn't wake their younger brother and mother a few doors away. He folded his arms and straightened his posture, "I know where you've been going. You go into the woods every evening at the same time to pretend to 'pick berries' or whatever lie you keep telling mother."

Xena frowned, "you've been watching me?!" she said irately.

He grinned, "it's hard not to notice Xena. And why do you have armor on? Are you a fighter by night and a innkeeper's daughter by day?" he laughed, not shy of showing his mocking tone.

"Toris, just get out of my room and leave me alone, would you?" Xena said and began unlacing her wet boots as she sat on the edge of her bed.

Her elder brother sighed and then threw his hands in the air in defeat. He opened the door and quietly made his exit.

Cortese and his men had come to the village a few days before and said that he would be back with even more men if the villagers did not submit. By night Xena was organizing a militia of men from her village to attack Crotese and his men. She knew that she could handle it, Petracles had taught her some military strategies over the last few months they had been seeing one another. After they would defeat Cortese, Xena had promised to go with Petracles and his army to travel across Greece as one. She knew she could do it, she had faith in herself. She was very confident that they would win.

The rainstorm continued and Xena got up from her bed to close her window to prevent any more rain fluttering into her bedroom. The nauseating feeling inside her came about once more. She was able to subside it for awhile now, but it always seemed to creep up on her in the middle of the night and early in the morning. Now undressed and into a suitable gown she slipped in her bed, brushing her fingers through her wet hair.

She slipped under the covers, curling up into a ball, facing the wall, staring intently. Xena had known she was pregnant for sure when she realized her blood cycle had not come later in the month like it usually had. Only seventeen years old, she did not know how to feel or what to do. She certainly wasn't going to tell her mother or Petracles for that matter, at least not yet. She was starting to feel like she was running out of time as the days flew by. Twelve weeks ago she should have known and said something but did not.

Her hand slowly slipped beneath her gown, resting on her once flat abdomen. Her hand snatched itself away as if it burned to the touch. Ignoring the nausea she closed her eyes, awaiting the morning for Cortese and his men.

* * *

Xena sighed as she continued to ride through the gentle rainfall. "He lost the battle."

"So you won?" Gabrielle asked.

The warrior woman nodded, "but I lost my brother in the process. Something I should never have let happen. Toris left before Cortese got there. He was tending to some errands for our mother. He returned a few days later. Once he found out that Lyceus died, died because of me, he left and never forgave me."

Gabrielle touched Xena's shoulder and the brunette warrior eyed her blonde companion. "It wasn't your fault that he died, Xena."

Xena sighed and continued onward quickly shifting subjects within her mind. "We only have a few hours left before we arrive in Amphipolis." The sun was starting to rise and the rain becoming a bit heavier than an hour earlier.

Early into the morning Xena and Gabrielle arrived in Amphipolis in a large village over a hilltop. Xena halted on top of the hill and watched from afar, almost afraid to come back to her roots. She saw some women picking wheat from the fields on the outskirts of the village. She controlled this part of Greece as well, but left Amphipolis alone. She did not wish to come back here and was sorry to come back on account of her brother's death.

"What's the matter? Are we going down there or not?" Gabrielle asked, pulling the horse's reigns close to her.

Xena breathed in and exhaled slowly, "I haven't been here since I was seventeen."

Gabrielle smiled and reached for Xena's hand, gripping it tightly. "don't worry Xena. You're not alone, I'm here, remember?"

The warrior's mouth turned upward into a hopeful but pathetic grin. She kicked the side of Argo and rode down the hilltop through the wheat fields.

As the two women trotted through the village, Xena still had her cloak on, disguising her appearance from the villagers. As they passed through, none of the women, children or men took notice of her or Gabrielle and continued to mind their own business. Xena's eyes darted back and forth watching every move each person made and admired the new taverns and homes that had been built. She guided Argo through the crowd of people and continued to a nearby stone building. The place where Lyceus was buried. Her mother, Cyrene, had decided to bury him there with a few other noble villagers that had died in the past.

Xena dismounted Argo and tied her reigns to a tree trunk. She opened the bag on the saddle and took an elaborate golden box which held her brother's ashes. Gabrielle walked beside Xena and nudged her forward.

"I can wait out here, just go in there," Gabrielle urged her friend and Xena frowned, a bit annoyed at Gabrielle's abrasive certainty. She exhaled slowly, walking towards the temple. None of the torches were lit and it looked like nobody kept this place in shape since she'd been here last.

Xena lit one of the torches in the room to provide some light. The sunlight was quite bright and seemed like enough to light the entire temple if there weren't so many cobwebs and dust mites everywhere. She stepped closer to Lyceus' sarcophagus and brushed off the cobwebs. She blew on the tomb and dust flew everywhere.

She sighed, "it doesn't look like anybody has paid attention to you, Lyceus," she smiled sadly. Finally she brought the golden box to her attention and set it on top of Lyceus' sarcophagus.

"I'm sorry, it appears I could not save you both from death because of my actions and decisions," Xena's eyes swelled with tears and she took off her hood. "I had hoped at this age we would all be together, but our time together is not on this earth, but somewhere else," she rested her hand on her brothers.

Moments later Xena left the temple, looking back at it, figuring it needed some work, but she did not think that her people would just leave it the way it was. Gabrielle stood with the two horses, alone and no one in sight around her.

Gabrielle smiled, "feel better now?"

Xena shook her head and untied Argo's reigns from the nearby tree. "Not really." She started walking off without her friend and the blonde caught up with the horse in tow. Xena suddenly stopped and had an idea, one last place she wanted to see before they left and before they were spotted by someone. She put the hood over her head and turned to Gabrielle.

"I want to make one last stop," she announced.

Gabrielle followed responding with silence as encouragement for Xena to continue onward. They did not mount their horses but walked the rest of the way on foot. They walked through the village and some people looked to them but did not bother to stop and ask who they were and why they were traveling through here. Gabrielle thought it odd that everyone here was not the least bit curious about strangers walking amongst them. In her village this would not go well, but it appeared Xena's people were different than hers. Most of them were blacksmiths and carpenters, not farmers like Gabrielle's people.

Xena stopped in front of a large two story tavern, her mother's tavern. It had been renovated since she had been here and was much larger than before.

"What's this?" Gabrielle asked.

"My mother's inn," Xena said and tied Argo to the post outside the tavern. She stepped inside with her hood covering most of her face. Her tall stature did not go unnoticed and many turned to look at the tall robed figure walking inside, but soon went back to their conversations.

Gabrielle followed in after Xena and smiled nervously at everyone. She kept in close step with the warrior woman, unsure of what she was thinking at the moment. Xena's eyes traveled the inn and she saw a small woman washing some cups with a wet washcloth. It was definitely her mother and she hadn't aged much since she last saw her. Maybe a few grey hairs but that was all. She felt her entire body tense up as she saw her mother working behind the bar, she had yet to notice her, thankfully.

Suddenly Cyrene looked up from washing the glasses and saw a tall robed stranger in her inn and she raised an eyebrow cautiously. She then saw a young short blonde woman beside the stranger.

"May I help you?" Cyrene asked, resting her elbows on the bar, smiling graciously.

Gabrielle's eyes darted to Xena then back to Cyrene, immediately understanding that this woman was Xena's mother. Her reddish brown wavy hair and strong bone structure did not strike her as being Xena's mother, but the more she looked she saw the same warmth in her eyes that resembled Xena's.

"Oh ah, some water?" Gabrielle replied late and Cyrene smiled, grabbing two glasses to fill with water.

She eyed the tall figure and chuckled, "and for your mysterious friend?" Cyrene jested. She placed the two glasses on the bar in front of the seated guests and Xena's hand grabbed Cyrene's, causing her eyes to widen at the sudden grasp. She did not try to pull away fearing that would cause a scene.

Xena pulled off her hood, revealing her face and icy blue eyes. Cyrene's soft blue eyes softened as she saw her only daughter sitting in front of her.

" _Xena_?" she said with surprise in her voice. She almost became speechless. She had not seen her daughter for eighteen years and though not a teenager anymore, she was a woman now and a very noble woman at that.

Xena hinted at a smile, but shied away from it, afraid of her mother's reaction towards her. Her face was warm but then suddenly hardened at the sight of her.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have an empire to run?" Cyrene whispered, making sure none of her guests could hear her. Some men at the bar turned but did not pay any mind to the women chatting.

Xena sighed expecting an answer like that from her mother. "I did not come here to fight," she held her hands up. Cyrene grabbed Xena's wrist and lead her to the backroom where the kitchen was. She instructed one of the young girls to attend to the bar while she slipped out. Gabrielle followed behind the two women into the kitchen discretely.

"You haven't been here since you were a teenager. You up and left and now you're back here...as an Empress?" Cyrene folded her arms, feeling the anger rising inside her.

"I'm sorry I did not come visit, but I had other...obligations to uphold." Xena felt that was a lame excuse but she didn't have anything else to say to her mother at this point.

Cyrene smiled out of anger and immediately wanted to clock her own daughter, but decided against it. she had heard so many awful things about her daughter over the years and even though she didn't want to believe it, they were still there. People talked about Xena like she was a monster, which in fact Cyrene had come to the realization that she was indeed a monster.

"How could you show your face here? To me? After what happened here our people never forgot about you, Xena. And you now have an empire of your own –making sure your name wouldn't be forgotten to the world."

Xena did not fight back as she knew her mother's words were true. She didn't have a good argument against them so she stood silent, staring at her mother's blue saddened eyes.

"Now you have nothing to say? Did you come all this way to prove that you're a new empress to your people?" Cyrene hissed. "I heard about your ceremonial speech, that you're a _changed_ woman." She scoffed.

Xena knew this was going to go nowhere and now she was starting to regret coming here, but she couldn't run away. Not again, she wouldn't allow herself to run away from her past any longer.

"Toris is dead, mother," she blurted out.

Silence.

Cyrene's eyes filled with tears and then her hand came to Xena's cheek, much like the first time when she found out Lyceus was dead many years ago. Xena flinched but did not react. Gabrielle's eyes widened, but she averted her eyes to the floor, not wishing to engage in this dispute. Xena's mother then hit Xena in her injured shoulder.

Xena groaned but did still not retaliate.

"Did you get him killed too?" Cyrene asked, afraid to know the truth. Xena remained silent and that response was enough for her mother to raise her hand again to slap her daughter's cheek once more. Xena grabbed her mother's wrist tightly and looked into her eyes.

"Hitting me is not going to bring him back," Xena said in a soft voice. She let go of her mother's wrist and lowered her arm slowly. She was expecting another smack but instead got a tight embrace and sobs against her breast. Xena not knowing how to respond to this touch, as she had gone so long without it, gently wrapped her arms around her mother's slender frame.

Gabrielle smiled and took a step back feeling a bit out of place during this mother-daughter exchange. Truthfully she was a bit envious of the moment Xena and Cyrene shared. She wanted to embrace her mother as well, but couldn't, and that was because of Xena and her men. She did not want to feel those black feelings in her heart again, so she set it aside, not wishing to bring them back.

A few minutes later Cyrene dried her cheeks with her hands and sat down, now offering Xena and her friend to sit with her. Gabrielle took the chair carefully and smiled at Cyrene.

"Who is your friend?" Cyrene asked.

Xena smiled, "this is Gabrielle, she is my scri –my friend."

Cyrene smiled holding her hand out to Gabrielle, shaking it gently. "How did your path cross with Toris' path?" she directed her question to Xena.

Xena patted her mother's hand gently, "another time, mother. He lies with Lyceus in the chamber now," she smiled softly.

Cyrene shook her head, "you traveled...all the way from Athens to deliver his body... _here_?" she sounded surprised.

Xena was not surprised at her mother's response but instead held her mother's hands tightly. "He is still my brother. We had our differences but he deserved to be where he belongs. In Amphipolis with his family."

"How could you leave after what happened here Xena?" this question haunted Cyrene for many years and she feared she'd never receive an answer, but now that her daughter was here, she wanted some answers.

Xena knew that this was coming and her mind was not mentally ready for this interrogation, but she knew it had to be done at some point in time. It was her idea to come here anyhow. She didn't know what this meeting would entail but she figured she owed her mother her time and some explanation.

"I gathered an army together after I left Amphipolis. When that didn't work out I found another army and joined them.." she meant Borias' army, but her mother did not know of him yet. She breathed in slowly, "shortly after I had...a baby and that didn't really work out too well either," she mumbled. Before she could continue Cyrene stopped her.

She blinked, "you had a child?" Xena nodded in response.

Gabrielle couldn't get enough of Cyrene's face and the shock was enough to kill the woman. First she hears of her son's death, her daughter is an empress and now she is suddenly a grandmother. Gabrielle smiled at this unable to keep her excitement in any longer.

"He is fifteen and resides in _Rome_ ," that last word brought bitterness inside her mouth, still unable to forgive Borias for that. Xena looked to her shocked mother and grinned, turning to Gabrielle, who shared the grin with her.

"It is a long story that I wish not to go into today, if you don't mind?" Xena pleaded, not wishing to relive the past any more than she had to.

Cyrene was not stopping there though, "what is his name?"

"His name is Solan," Xena sighed, now regretting this conversation entirely.

Her mother smiled warmly, "I want to meet him some day." Xena was glad to turn this dreadful conversation about Toris, death and destruction into a warm hearted one. The mention of Solan also warmed her heart and she was glad that her mother had the same reaction that she had for so many years.

* * *

Cyrene was able to grill Xena for more information than Xena wanted to share, but she did not reveal too much, she left out all the gruesome details as she was sure her mother knew all about them already. Two hours had gone by and all three did not realize. Cyrene had excused herself from the conversation in order to tend to her guests in her inn for awhile. Xena welcomed the exit of her mother, encouraging her to leave her side.

Xena slumped in the chair and Gabrielle laughed. "You look like the life has been drained right out of you!" she grinned.

Xena sighed heavily, "she always asks too many questions." She rubbed her temples trying to relieve her headache.

Gabrielle scooted closer to her brunette friend, "I am glad that you are able to talk to your mother so freely like that," she nodded her head.

Xena turned to her friend, seeing a bit of sadness in her green eyes. She touched Gabrielle's cheek gently, "I'm sorry that I took that away from you, Gabrielle. I have my mother and yet yours is..."

The blonde shook her head, "I cannot blame you for what you did all those years ago. I told you I forgave you a long time ago."

"But I have my mother, my son...they are alive. Life is important Gabrielle. Something I should have learned a long time ago. I was too busy with my own to think of others, others like you.." she felt that annoying guilt creep into her heart once again. She had still not fully welcomed the annoying feeling yet, but she tolerated it.

Gabrielle smiled grabbing the conqueror's hand tightly, "I am just glad that you are able to recognize that, Xena."

Xena wiped her single tear from her cheek and folded her arms. "How would my people look at me, crying like a child," she sniffled.

Her blonde friend grinned widely and she set her hand on Xena's shoulder. "I think they would see a _real_ person, not a conqueror." Xena waved her hand dismissively at Gabrielle, feeling embarrassed.

"Educating the mind without educating the heart, is no education at all," Gabrielle stated.

Xena raised an eyebrow and started chuckling, "is that Aristotle?" she knew that quote anywhere and who better than Gabrielle to repeat it, especially now. Her blonde companion nodded. "Philosophical bullshit," she grinned.

Suddenly an eerie feeling rushed over Xena and her body shivered. Gabrielle noticed the sudden reaction and furrowed her brows in response.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Xena's eyes darted from corner to corner in the kitchen and she frowned. "I don't know," she felt an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach and she felt on high alert.

**AN: cliffhanger. Sorry...**


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: this is a bit intense, this chapter. Thank you all for leaving feedback, much appreciated! And good luck and enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 27_

Solan was studying up on Greek history for the last few hours at his desk in his room. Occasionally he jotted down some notes from a few scrolls he was able to find in the library at his school. He opted to not continue school and instead train in the way of the sword. After talking with Xena, his mother, something that he couldn't wrap his head around, he realized that the sword wasn't everything especially if someone is defenseless before the armed one. After she left with Gabrielle to return to Athens he decided to continue his studies, but not at school, instead in the comfort of his own room.

He chose Greece not only because Xena lived and ruled there, but because in school they only taught Roman history. As he read through the scrolls he couldn't believe that the Greeks invented so many things hundreds of years before the Romans ever thought of doing. He also realized that his original thinking against the Greeks was not very wise and closed minded. Roman schools taught young boys about the Greeks, that they could be barbaric sometimes, but they had good teachers, such as philosophers, which he really liked learning about, more than past emperors. It was hard going to school being in the shadow of a Caesar, but he realized he wasn't a Roman at all, which made him feel better knowing that he was not part of the people he was around constantly.

He unrolled a scroll carefully and set a paper weight on top to level the parchment. He began jotting down notes when suddenly a hand came to his shoulder, alarming him. Solan immediately stood up and turned around to see a man a bit taller than him, wearing all black and looking quite menacing.

Solan grabbed a dagger he had lying on his desk and pointed it at the stranger. "Who are you and how...how did you get in here?" he stuttered, feeling a bit anxious.

Ares smiled, folding his arms. "You won't be needing that," he waved his hand and the dagger within Solan's grasp launched across the room and into a map hanging on the wall. Solan's eyes grew in fear as he saw that this man was no man at all.

"Are you a god?" Solan asked, backing away from his desk, tempted to grab another weapon, his sword perhaps.

Ares nodded, "your mother didn't mention me? Wow, am I really _that_ unpopular in her eyes?" he chuckled, staring at the blonde teenager.

Solan quirked a smile, "you must be Ares then, since you mentioned my...mother," he choked.

The War God nodded, "your mother, she is something isn't she?" he sat down in Solan's chair, propping his black boots on the teen's desk. "Listen boy, I would like to show you something, if you're interested?"

Solan wasn't too sure about Ares. He had heard so many things about the God of War. In Roman culture he was known as Mars, but most often referred to as his Greek surname. He quirked his lips and folded his arms. "How can I be sure I can trust you?"

Ares stood up and came behind Solan abruptly, startling the teenager once again. "Solan, Solan, Solan!" he grabbed the boy's shoulders. "I am just going to take you for a little show and tell. No harm done in that right?" he grinned.

Solan eyed him, peering behind his shoulder to see the smile on the War God's face. Now he was intrigued, but still not trusting the god. He had never been in contact with a god before, and now that he was, it was kind of...awesome, he thought.

"Courtesy of your dear mother," Ares added with a shrug of his shoulder. He sauntered over to the scrolls and looked at a few of them. "Greek history, nice!" he grinned.

Solan was now a bit confused, "what do you mean 'courtesy of my mother'?" he completely ignored Ares' side comments and casual mannerisms.

"Come with me and I'll show you," Ares lend out his hand and Solan apprehensively took it.

* * *

Suddenly they were not in his room anymore, but in the very place Ares took Gabrielle to. Solan's eyes wandered the stone walled room and saw it was snowing outside. The room was very chilly and he rubbed his hands together to gather some warmth in him.

Ares guided him to the stone that had the very weapon that he told Xena about discretely.

"What is this place?" Solan asked and looked at the stone that had two circles carved inside of it. he reached forward, tempted to touch it, like it compelled him to touch it. Ares grabbed his wrist and rolled his eyes.

"In a place that holds a great weapon, but you see, it's missing. I asked your mother if she could help me...but she refused, " he sighed loudly.

Solan furrowed his brows and circled the interesting stone in the middle of this small room. He noticed the circles were in two opposite ends of the stone, one circle was darker than the other. He looked at Ares who was picking his teeth with his fingernail casually.

"She refused to help you find the weapon? Why?" he wanted to get straight to the point. He had a strange feeling about this place, but these weapons...or weapon, as Ares said, seemed important and even his own mother was interested, but refused to help, but why?

Ares shrugged, "she didn't want to do the deed to obtain the weapon. You see Solan," he walked over to the boy and placed his hands upon his shoulders, gripping tightly. "This weapon requires blood. You get the picture, right?" he winked.

Solan stood frozen. "You mean a _sacrifice_?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Ares slapped Solan on the back with a huge smile on his face. He snapped his finger, "you got it! you're just like your mother, quick as a...anyway," he cleared his throat. "Do you want to help me get the weapon?"

Solan frowned and folded his arms, "if my mother was not willing to help you, what makes you think I want to?" he smirked.

Ares groaned. _You really are like your mother_. "You don't understand what kind of weapon this is, Solan!" he felt the need to sell himself, if he couldn't get Xena to do it, perhaps he could get Solan to do it.

"A special gift from the Indians long ago. It was brought here thousands of years ago. Only a special person can have this weapon...there just needs to be well, you know already, the sacrifice bit, yadayada," he rolled his eyes, feeling a bit silly explaining this powerful weapon to a mere child.

Solan nodded understanding what the War God was trying to do. "Okay, but what will I get in return if I help you?"

Ares sighed and tapped his foot on the ground, getting a bit irritated at all these questions. "What do you really desire, Solan?"

The blonde teen thought about it for a few moments, and then a smile came to his lips. He knew exactly what he wanted. "I want to study in Athens," that was his dream, no doubt, ever since he was ten years old.

The War God nodded, "to be with mommy, right?" he laughed. "Fine, you can study in Athens, I'll send you where Xena is right now, but I'll give you three days to find a sacrifice for the weapon." Solan nodded his head vigorously. "If you fail...you can say goodbye to your precious mother and the impending relationship you are yet to have with her," he smiled. "Oh and one more thing, don't tell Xena, about this."

Solan almost responded with wide eyes but it was too late and he was no longer in the snowy castle, but transported to a much grassier land. He frowned, looking around at the village a few yards away. He squinted his eyes and saw Argo, his horse, not far from where he stood. Instantly a smile came to him and ran towards his blonde friend.

* * *

Cyrene was washing off some tables with a damp rag when she saw a young blonde teenage boy tending to Xena's horse. She had seen Gabrielle and Xena tie their horses up outside the tavern before they entered. She eyed the boy and he seemed quite enthralled by the animal, but she didn't know this boy. Frowning, she threw the rag on the table and hustled back to the kitchen.

Xena and Gabrielle looked a bit miffed when she came into the room and she folded her arms. "Xena, there's a boy ogling your horse outside," she said.

Xena eyed her blonde friend and both stood up and left the kitchen, marching to the entrance of her mother's inn. Xena's eyes widened and she frowned, "Solan?!" she yelled in a low voice.

Solan finally shared a glimpse with his mother and she looked nothing like she did when he first met her. She was dressed in a dark cloak, disguising her armor most likely and her hair cut much shorter, less wild and more tame. He stopped petting Argo and walked inside of the tavern. He glanced around at the few men that were in there.

"hi... _again_ ," Solan said sheepishly, fiddling with his fingers behind his back feeling a bit nervous standing in front of his mother. He didn't expect her to be in a place like this. This definitely wasn't Athens, that much he knew, but where was this?

Xena frowned, grabbing his arm, rapidly marching back into the kitchen. Gabrielle followed them as well, observing the two. Solan snatched his arm away from her hold and frowned, rubbing his upper arm.

"You can't just jerk me around like that, you know!" he grimaced.

Xena immediately felt like she hit strike one with Solan. She didn't know what to do or how to handle Solan, especially since he wasn't exactly a child. She couldn't treat him as such and certainly couldn't act like a mother towards him, since she was beginning to feel like she didn't have the right and no instincts for it at all. She felt a bit embarrassed at her sudden reaction, but the truth was, she didn't want him around her, not yet at least.

"I'm...I'm sorry," she sighed. "But what are you doing here? And how did you get here?" she questioned. Her anger began to simmer again.

Solan looked to Gabrielle and she averted her eyes to Xena, who had a fire within her eyes. Her pupils dilated and eyebrows furrowed. Her stance was not helping either, both Solan and Xena were at nearly the same height but she looked far more intimidating than he.

"I –I followed you," he lamely attempted at a lie.

Xena cocked her head to the side not believing him at all. She would have known if he was following her, her skills in tracking had not left her, she knew that.

She grinned, challenging her son in his lie, " _oh_ _yeah_? So I suppose you traveled by foot, right?" she asked with a bit of mirth in her icy blue marbles.

Solan nodded. Gabrielle shook her head at this boy. Even she knew that he was lying and almost wanted to chuckle at his demise. Xena nodded her head in response and her fingers touched his perfectly white toga. Not spotting any kind of dirt or wear on the Roman clothing.

"Brought some extra clothes with you too, huh?" Xena smirked. She took a step closer and smelled Solan's neck. She sniffed, "lavender oil." She saw Solan tense up and then felt Gabrielle's touch on her shoulder and pulled away.

Immediately she felt like she was interrogating an enemy, asking where they've been and why they followed her. She didn't want to do that to Solan and suspected that Gabrielle saw what she was doing. Suddenly she took a step back relieving Solan of his worries and decided to put it in the back of her mind for now.

Solan inwardly sighed a sigh of relief. He didn't want Xena to figure out why he was here and who sent him. He was very aware of what Ares about not telling his mother about his plan to help the War God with the weapon. He didn't want to get rid of his mother, as he just met her, but at the same time, he felt like he shouldn't care. She left him, she got rid of him, she said it was to 'protect' him, but he wasn't so sure. She had a great a empire and only had that because she didn't have _him_. Anger began to boil inside of him reminiscing all those feelings he had when he learned Xena was his mother and that was only a few days ago. He couldn't wrap his head around it all and now he couldn't have a relationship with her if he told her about Ares. It was all so confusing.

Breaking the awkward silence, Cyrene entered the kitchen and saw the same boy that was ogling Xena's horse outside. He looked a bit dazed and confused and she smiled at Xena.

"You know this boy, Xena?" she asked.

Xena sighed and nodded, "mother, this is..Solan," she gestured her hand to her son then to her mother.

Solan's eyes widened and couldn't believe that Xena just said mother. He didn't think that she had a mother, well, he knew that she had a mother, everyone did, but he didn't think she'd be alive. And he didn't think she'd be out here, away from Athens, not involved in the empire, so it seemed to him.

Cyrene's smile grew as she glanced at the boy. He was very tall, almost as tall as Xena was and his hair as golden as Lyceus' hair once was. His eyes were a dark brown and skin olive, like Xena's, of course. He was rather thin for a teenager, much like Xena was at that age, although she quickly filled out in the coming years.

She grabbed hold of Solan's hands and he seemed surprised at this warm welcome. "Xena told me about you a few hours ago!" the boy's eyes illuminated confusion and uncertainty. "He reminds me of Lyceus, Xena, don't you think so?" her eyes roamed Solan's figure admiring the similarities of her deceased son.

Gabrielle smirked and nudged Xena in the arm. Xena looked down at her friend and smiled with warm cheeks, feeling slightly uncomfortable at such a compliment, let alone from her mother, whom she hadn't seen in almost two decades.

Xena cleared her throat, "yes a little bit," she smiled softly. Solan was utterly confused at this. He wasn't expecting to be transported to a situation like this. He was supposed to be in Athens, _she_ was supposed to be in Athens, but no, this must be a fantasy, a dream, he thought.

"Mother, could you leave us for awhile?" Xena suggested and Cyrene was too busy looking at her only grandson, he was quite a handsome young man, she marveled. " _Mother_ ," Xena said more firmly this time.

Cyrene was knocked out her daze and smiled, "oh right, of course. I will close the inn in two hours and then I will...come back here?" she hoped and then disappeared from the kitchen. Xena sighed and then looked to Solan with warm eyes, instead of hardened ones this time.

Gabrielle pulled up a chair for Solan. "Here, sit down, I'm sure you've had a long...journey," she smirked looking in Xena's direction. He cautiously sat down facing the two women opposite him. His eyes darted from Gabrielle, whom was smirking, and his mother, whom had a disapproving look on her face.

"So why don't you tell me how you really got here?" Xena asked immediately coming back into interrogation mode.

Solan frowned and folded his arms, slumping in the chair. "Wait a second. You want to question me on how I got here, but yet here you are, with _your_ mother? And by the way, we're not in Athens."

Gabrielle intervened before Xena could get the first word in. "Solan, I understand this is a shock to you, but it's as much of a shock to Xena as it is to you." Xena glared at Gabrielle, wishing she would have never said that.

Solan frowned at Gabrielle, "oh really? What, did she give her mother away too?" he fought back.

Xena groaned, "alright, enough of that," she held up her hand. "You don't understand, Solan. This is –"

" _I_ don't understand?" he scoffed. "What is it that I don't understand, mother? You're just full of secrets, I suppose." He chuckled angrily.

Xena felt a sting in her heart when he said that aloud. Gabrielle looked to her brunette friend and then back to Solan. She set her hand on Solan's hand, which rested on his knee.

"It's not easy to explain fifteen years of lost time in a matter of minutes, you understand that right?" she smiled hopefully.

Solan pulled back his hand, frowning at the blonde scribe sitting opposite him. "Of course I understand that, Gabrielle. I'm not stupid." He chided.

Xena sensed a bit more anger in Solan than she wanted to. It reminded her of herself a few years older than him, when she was hungry, hungry for war. It was a different kind of anger. She leaned forward, hoping that her stance wasn't too aggressive this time.

"Solan," she began softly, "I know this is a lot for you to process, but I..." he sighed not knowing how to continue this conversation properly. "I'm sorry, is that what you want to hear?" she frowned slightly.

Her son eyed her carefully and then crossed one leg over the other, "I don't want your apology, mother. What are you doing here, anyway?" he changed the subject quickly.

Xena quirked her mouth to the side and bit her inner cheek. "I had to bring my brother here to be buried with our other brother," she said solemnly.

His sudden anger dissipated when she said this. He had seen her so strong and fearless, but at this moment, she seemed...defeated. The thought of Xena having a family never registered in his mind. He had a family too, Octavius, Octavia and Attia were his family and so it seemed unnatural, given Xena's nature, to have a family of her own, once. His heart softened at this and realized that his mother was once a daughter and a sister, just like a normal person.

His furrowed eyebrows disappeared and he was almost at a loss for words. "Your brother died?" he asked quietly. Xena nodded in response. His eyes darted to the floor and to wall the surrounding walls. "How?"

Solan's sudden abrasiveness shocked Xena, but at the same time, she felt she shouldn't be surprised. She had lied enough, she had no reason to lie to Solan anymore. "Marc Antony killed him before I came to Egypt."

His eyebrows rose. "Oh..." he mumbled, now understanding one of the reasons why Xena wanted to kill the Roman. He knew she really hated them, but now it was starting to make more sense. He wanted to know more. "Why did he kill him?"

Gabrielle saw the hesitation in Xena's eyes and interrupted. "Maybe we should talk about something else...?" she suggested.

Xena touched Gabrielle's knee and stopped her. "No Gabrielle, it's alright." Gabrielle looked to Xena, confused, but sure she was calm now, not like earlier. Solan had a solemn look on his face, awaiting his mother's response.

"Marc Antony killed my brother because of you Solan," Xena directly said.

Solan shook his head. "I don't understand. Because of me? He knew about me?" he said in disbelief and shock.

She nodded, "he killed my brother and threatened me to kill..." she caught herself before she said Borias' name. "to kill someone else. If I didn't kill this _someone_ , then Antony was going to find you...and kill you too." Of course, Xena knew that Marc Antony did not know who Solan was or where he lived, but the thought of him killing Solan was enough for her to act. Although she didn't kill Borias, her brother died because of her. She felt like was living in déjà vu, constantly.

Solan's surprised face brought a smile to Xena's lips. She held her hand up, "I didn't kill that person, he lived. Unfortunately my brother died because of my decisions. I just didn't want you to die as well, Solan," she added in a low voice, almost embarrassed to admit it.

Even though the two had been separated for many years, Xena still felt the need to protect Solan, wherever he was, even if she had no idea where he was at the moment. _That_ was one of those moments.

All of this information weighed on the conqueror's son. He did not realize that his life was so important that people died because of it. what he didn't know was that Xena protected him in a way that was unconventional to him. Mothers were supposed to be there for their children, yet she was far away and distant to him, she still continued to protect him discretely. He now felt bad about letting his anger get the best of him at first when he found out that Xena was his mother. Solan was beginning to understand what she meant when she said she gave him away to protect him. Even though she was not there physically, she was always there, protecting him from afar, without him knowing, for all these years.

"I'm sorry," he said remorsefully. Solan felt the blame for Xena's brother's death, even though he wasn't there and had no idea about her brother, he somehow felt responsible.

Xena's eyes saddened at this apology. She grabbed Solan's hand, tightening the grip. " _Oh_ ," she smiled sadly, "don't be sorry. Nothing that I am telling you is your fault. I'm the one to blame, I'm always the one to blame." She joked a bit at the last part.

Solan grinned a little. He sighed allowing the silence to sink in and everything process in his brain slowly. "Since I am here, I think I want to hear about your brothers." Xena smiled at this, happy to tell him about Toris and Lyceus and their adventures together as children and teenagers.

* * *

A few hours later Solan fell asleep with an empty wine glass in his hand, laying down on a couple of chairs lined up. Xena didn't think her stories were boring, but it appeared that he had quite an adventure for one day. Her mother allowed herself to join in to casual conversation with Solan, although she didn't ask too many questions, she asked a few. Such as where he lived, and when his birthday was. She was very careful to ask Solan questions as she knew Xena did not tell him a lot by the sound of it.

Cyrene began cleaning the inn and allowed Solan to sleep in a vacant room, but he was still passed out in the chairs in the workroom next to the kitchen. Xena and Gabrielle took the room that was offered to Solan instead.

That evening Xena took off her cloak finally and started unlacing her black corset. Gabrielle was taking off her leather boots when she glanced at Xena's choice of clothing. Everything she had on was black, her boots, harem pants, corset, blouse...and even her hair was black. She grinned at the conqueror woman unlacing her armor in a fast pace.

Xena felt eyes on her and she turned to see Gabrielle's smug face. "What?" she asked, feeling a bit self-conscious.

"What's your favorite color, Xena?" Gabrielle asked with that smug expression still present.

Xena raised an eyebrow and continued unlacing her corset from the back. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer the question," Gabrielle continued and started getting the bed ready for sleep.

Xena sighed, "I don't know, brown I guess. Why are you asking?" she asked a bit suspicious of her blonde friend.

Gabrielle started laughing. " _Brown_? Really? Have you taken a good look at yourself in the mirror? You're covered in black!" The conqueror stared down at her attire and shrugged, noticing that her entire wardrobe was indeed very dark.

She smiled, feeling a bit silly. "It's a nice color, suits me, right?" Xena asked, not really looking for an answer.

Gabrielle stood up and finished unlacing Xena's corset for her as it was getting a bit tedious to watch the process. It was much easier when someone else helped. She tugged on one of the laces and Xena groaned at the slight tightening of the corset. Gabrielle grinned and kept onward.

"Maybe you should think of another color for your armor, Xena. So you know, you'd look less...I donno, scary?" Gabrielle suggested.

Xena smirked, "if I am to be a conqueror and not look scary, then what am I supposed to look like?"

Gabrielle tugged on another lace and Xena's torso jerked forward. She received a glare from Xena as she peered over her shoulder. She hid her smiling face and shrugged her shoulders. "We've talked about this before, Xena. You don't have to be scary to be a ruler and this black doesn't help. Although without your long hair, you do look less menacing."

Xena sighed, slightly missing her long locks, but then realized that she didn't need hair to define who she was. Finally the corset was loose and she sighed audibly as Gabrielle threw the death trap on a chair nearby. She started unlacing the front of her pants and slipped them off with ease along with her blouse, leaving her body completely exposed. Gabrielle turned her eyes away as Xena looked for something her mother left in the room to sleep in.

She pulled out a cream colored gown that came to her knees and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe she still kept my things," she slipped on the gown, feeling weird and not like herself, but more like her seventeen year old self again. She sat on the bed and Gabrielle was lying underneath the covers already, hiding her smile.

Xena looked to her friend and saw her eyes glimmer. "Don't laugh, Gabrielle."

"I'm not laughing," Gabrielle continued to smile with the blankets covering her mouth.

"Then don't smile, either," Xena added firmly. Then a few moments later she realized how ridiculous she sounded and started laughing under her breath. Gabrielle then started laughing since she heard Xena laughing at herself, which is something she never did, at least in her presence.

Gabrielle sighed and snuggled up under the blankets and Xena sat straight up with her back against the wall. "I'm glad we came here after all, Xena. I know it was for a different cause but I'm glad you are here and able to see your mother."

Xena nodded in silence. "I'm glad you are here with me. Truthfully, I probably wouldn't have come here if I were by myself." She then saw Gabrielle's mouth turn upward again. "Don't start, Gabrielle. Just let us enjoy the moment without some of your –"

"philosophical bullshit?" Gabrielle finished Xena's sentence. Xena smiled, nodding her head.

A few silent moments passed and Gabrielle started to feel sleep overcome her body but then Xena's voice alarmed her, preventing her from sleeping.

"How do you think Solan got here?" the conqueror woman asked. She still didn't understand it.

The blonde yawned, closing her eyes once again, but still attentive to Xena. "Doesn't make sense, I know. We both know he lied earlier."

Xena recalled that moment earlier in the day perfectly and instantly felt regret. She didn't mean to make Solan feel uncomfortable. That's the last thing she wanted to do to her son. She wanted him to be safe, feel safe, just like she always wanted ever since he was a babe.

She sighed agreeing with Gabrielle. Though there was something weird that happened to her. It was as if something touched her, hit her spiritually, almost. She felt that when she was in the kitchen during the day with Gabrielle. She couldn't quite explain what happened, but she knew something was wrong in that moment and that something, was definitely Solan.

"Do you think he could have gotten here a different way?" there was no response from Gabrielle so she peered down and saw the blonde's eyes wide open, blinking confusedly. "I mean, by another force, something non-human?"

Gabrielle furrowed her eyebrows. "I guess so, but it's not likely he's going to tell you, Xena." She yawned again and closed her eyes, hoping Xena would stop talking.

"Something is not right, I can feel it." Xena shook her head, folding her arms staring out the window in the dark skies from the bed.

"You know what's not right? Not sleeping," Gabrielle mumbled. Xena raised an eyebrow with pursed lips and stared at her blonde friend in the spot next to her.

She laid down in the bed, uncovered and faced her back towards Gabrielle, staring at the closed door. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep especially if her gut feeling had some truth to it.

Minutes later Xena turned over, her face now parallel to Gabrielle's. She stared at the blonde sleeping lightly. Her dark lashes perfectly placed on her skin. Her blonde hair slightly unkempt. Xena couldn't fathom not having this woman in her life. At first she was annoying to her, and sometimes she still was, but everything she said made sense to her. She was her other half, something she never thought she'd have –a conscious. A walking, living, breathing conscious, that lay in bed next to her, falling into a deeper sleep the longer she stared at her.

"Gabrielle," she whispered and heard a soft mumble from her blonde companion. "You'd know if something was wrong, right? You would feel it, wouldn't you?" Xena's voice lowered even more as she was very close to her.

"Mhm," Gabrielle unconsciously answered Xena as her sleep became deeper.

Xena turned over on her back, staring at the moon-lit ceiling. "I will take your word for it," she said more to reassure herself than anything as she knew Gabrielle was long gone now, entering dream world.


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: good luck with this one. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 28_

Gabriele's eyes opened and she looked to Xena next to her as she was still sleeping. The sun had yet to rise, but her mind refused to stay asleep. She quietly slipped out of the bed trying not to disturb Xena in her sleep. She figured that the woman hadn't slept well in days, so she tread carefully to not make any noise.

Xena stirred in her slumber and the covers slipped off her body as she lay on her stomach. Gabrielle saw Xena's gown on the floor and realized she wasn't wearing anything.

Her eyes widened and wondered when she had taken that off during the night, perhaps when she fell asleep before Xena did. She heard someone mumbling outside their room and quietly closed the door. Gabrielle walked into the den area and saw Solan wide awake walking in circles with a dagger in his hand. Her eyes focused on the dagger and noticed it wasn't his, definitely not a Roman weapon, but it looked like Xena's dagger.

Solan kept mumbling to himself and swinging the weapon within his grasp. Gabrielle took a step closer and then Solan felt a presence and thrust the dagger towards her direction.

He saw who it was and lowered the weapon carefully. "Oh, it's just you Gabrielle," he sighed rubbing the back of his head.

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow and took another step forward. "What's that you have there?" she gestured to the dagger.

Solan looked down and shrugged, "a dagger?" he smirked.

Gabrielle smiled, nodding her head. She didn't understand why he had to steal Xena's dagger and was even more surprised by his attitude about it as well. She knew that Solan was very young and just knowing that Xena was his mother probably just rocked his entire world. She could understand his feelings right about now.

"So, you just stole Xena's dagger? Why?" Gabrielle casually asked, making sure to keep her voice quiet in order not to wake anyone up in the house.

Solan's cheeks flushed. He knew that Gabrielle would be able to recognize Xena's weaponry the moment she saw it, but he didn't realize that she would have come in here at this hour. Truthfully, he hadn't been able to sleep most of the night as Ares' plan kept roaming through his mind. He had a time limit and he knew that he had to find a sacrifice for the weapon. He didn't like to go back on his promises and he also didn't want to have anything happen to Xena because of him. Xena may have not been there as a mother to him, but she had always been there protecting him by proxy. Seeing a side to Xena he knew that she was in fact normal, well was normal, once.

He smiled shyly, "I was going to give it back. I –I was just borrowing it," he admitted. This part was true, he was just going to use it real quick and then put it back where it belonged, but he still didn't know how to obtain a sacrifice for Ares. He had been going over and over this for hours and still –nothing.

"And when did you think she was going to notice it was gone?" Gabrielle smirked, now sitting down in a chair as the sun began to slowly rise.

Solan huffed, "I just need it okay?" he ignored the subtle comment by Xena's blonde friend.

Gabrielle stood and came closer to the tall blonde boy and grabbed the dagger in his hand. She snatched it away from Solan and his eyes widened from surprise. She was quite quick, he noticed.

"I'm going to put this back," she turned around heading back to the room where Xena and she slept in. before she exited she called over her shoulder, "I won't tell Xena about this," she smiled and left the room.

Solan frowned and slammed his fist on a nearby table and grunted. _How am I going to get a sacrifice now?_

* * *

Gabrielle entered the bedroom again and saw Xena standing up putting on her blouse, already had her pants and boots on. She hadn't known how long she'd been awake, but she quietly placed the dagger on the chair where it was before.

Xena had her back facing towards Gabrielle and she smirked, knowing she was there. "Where did you run off to so early in the morning?" she said, now turning around lacing the loose blouse hastily.

Gabrielle grinned, "I couldn't sleep anymore, I guess. I went to see if Solan was awake," she walked to her side of the bed and grabbed her boots. Xena frowned as she heard her son's name. She couldn't make any sense of him. He lied to her and even when she tried to get the truth out of him, he simply avoided the subject. She knew that Solan got here another way and certainly didn't follow her and Gabrielle here. There wouldn't have been enough time for him to make it to Athens from Rome and then to Amphipolis unless he had help.

Xena grabbed her dagger, noticing it wasn't in the same place she put it last night. It lay on her corset, but when she went to bed she was sure she put it on the desk in the room before she went to sleep. She twirled the dagger and slipped it inside her boot.

Gabrielle looked back and hoped that Xena wouldn't notice that her dagger was not in the same place. She really should have paid more attention to such small details.

"did you move my dagger?" Xena asked.

Gabrielle cursed to herself and then nodded her head, making sure not to reveal what Solan did earlier. Truthfully she didn't know when Solan had come in here to take it anyway. "It fell when I bumped into the desk when I got up. Sorry," she lamely said. Xena raised an eyebrow but decided not to worry about it and began to lace her corset up.

Once finished Xena walked out of the bedroom and into the sitting area where she saw Solan sitting down with his head in his hands. She smirked and walked towards him.

Solan saw two black boots in front of him and looked up to see Xena standing, staring down at him. He immediately stood up, worried that she figured out that he took her dagger while she was asleep.

"did you sleep well?" Xena asked with her hands on her hips.

Solan inwardly sighed in relief. He smiled, feeling a little less nervous. "Yeah, sort of," he answered in a quiet voice.

Xena smiled, "good. Do you want to go hunting with me? I will have to leave tomorrow morning."

Solan didn't want her to leave and he was on a bit of a time crunch at the moment, but he guessed that if he didn't go with her then it might seem strange. He nodded his head to accept her offer.

Gabrielle entered the room and stared at Xena and Solan. She quirked her mouth to the side and approached the two.

"Do you want to come with us, Gabrielle?" Xena asked. Her blonde friend didn't know what was going on and simply nodded unsure what she was agreeing to.

"We're going hunting...?" Solan completed Gabrielle's thought and the blonde nodded again.

Xena smiled and then immediately went for the door heading outside. Gabrielle followed and then Solan as well. The sun had risen and a few people were already outside tending to their daily routine. Solan looked to his mother a bit confused. He came to her side and cleared his throat, grabbing her attention.

"Won't we need weapons for hunting animals?" he seemed puzzled by this.

Xena pointed to her ear and had a wild smile, "the only weapons we need are our ears and of course," she snatched the dagger from her boot, "this as well."

"You're going to hunt an animal with your ears?" Solan asked disbelievingly. Xena winked at him and then went on foot to head to the forestry on the outskirts of the village.

Gabrielle caught up with Solan and saw Xena heading to the woods by herself. Solan looked very confused and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's really good at this, Solan. Don't worry she knows what she's doing." She walked off without Solan and he still stared confusedly at the two women. He shook his head and ran towards them.

* * *

A few hours later Xena, Gabrielle and Solan went back to Cyrene's home, close by to her tavern. Xena carried a rabbit by the ears and Solan trailed behind the two women walking ahead of him. He was distracted the entire time he was with Xena and Gabrielle. It was now mid afternoon and still he had no plan to satisfy the War God.

Once they reached the house Xena gave the rabbit to Gabrielle and she took it to the kitchen. A few moments later Solan entered in the room, looking distressed.

Xena frowned and cleaned her dagger with an old rag. She sat down watching Solan as he paced back and forth for a minute or so. She laughed and this got Solan's attention and he looked towards his mother.

"You are going to build a trench if you keep walking around like that," she casually continued to clean her blade. She held it up to the sun, allowing the sunlight to flicker off the blade.

Solan stopped and folded his arms, staring at Xena as she finished cleaning her blade. He suddenly had an idea, an idea that might save him in his predicament.

"Do you track animals the same way you do people?" Solan abruptly asked. Xena's eyes looked up and she was taken aback by such a question. She didn't really have another reason to lie to him so she simply nodded.

"Sometimes, but not always," she answered in a quiet voice, not sure what he was doing. Solan came and sat down in front of Xena in a chair. He looked to the kitchen and saw Gabrielle tending to the rabbit, then his eyes reverted back to his mother. Xena's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

He smiled, clasping his hands together. "Could you...teach me to do that?" his voice filled with hope and his brown eyes grew curious.

Xena smirked and she too folded her arms, crossing one leg over the other. "I don't give lessons on how to kill people, Solan." Her eyes narrowed.

He stood up and threw his hands in the air, "but what you did back there was amazing," his voice became higher as his excitement rose. "It would be beneficial to my training, please?" he pleaded.

Xena stood up facing her son, her nostrils slightly flaring. She knew something was wrong with Solan the moment she saw him with Argo yesterday. His sudden appearance did not go unnoticed and if he wanted her to teach him, she was going to do just that.

"Alright," she set the dagger down on the table. "Come at me," she smiled.

Solan was surprised at this and felt his body tense up at this. He wasn't expecting to fight her, nor was he expecting her to comply with his wishes. He furrowed his eyebrows and then threw his fist towards Xena's shoulder and she grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. He groaned and then tried to kick Xena in her shins.

She wrapped her leg around his and she pushed him to the ground, landing with a loud thud, face first. Gabrielle's ears perked up and she came into the room and saw Solan on the floor. Her eyes grew with worry and saw Xena standing over him with her legs straddled over his body.

Xena saw Gabrielle's worrisome face and smiled at her. She then pushed Solan's body over so now he was looking up at her. She lend her hand out for him to help him up off the floor.

Solan looked to her hand and then took it and she hoisted him up off the floor. He groaned and rubbed his arm, feeling a bruise coming on.

"Your weapon is not a sword Solan, but a quill instead," Xena said with a warm voice. She patted his shoulder and smiled warmly.

Solan brushed off her hand and frowned. "But I can be a great warrior, just like you. If I had proper training –"

"No." Xena interrupted and sheathed her dagger inside her boot leg once again and left the room.

Gabrielle stared at Solan as he rubbed his sore arm. She half smiled and then followed Xena who was now in the kitchen, washing her face with some cold water.

"What was that about?" Gabrielle asked, handing Xena a fresh rag to dry her face off with.

Xena threw the rag on the table and placed a hand on her hip. "A bit of arrogance kicked to the bucket, Gabrielle." She sighed. Her eyes took to Solan, who was sitting down, mumbling to himself.

Gabrielle shared sympathy with the boy and looked to Xena again. "He just wants to be like you."

Xena shook her head, "no he doesn't. He wants to be a warrior, something he is not fit for."

"Maybe if he was given the chance –"

"No!" she yelled at Gabrielle and her friend was taken aback by the abrasiveness. She sighed, "Gabrielle, I gave Solan away so he could be away from the war, the violence. I don't want him to be like me. Can we just leave it at that?" she left the kitchen and went back to Solan.

Xena saw Solan rubbing his arm still and squatted down in front of him. "Can I see your arm?"

Solan a bit reluctant after what just happened, he stretched his arm out. Xena touched his wrist and saw a bit of swelling there. She bit her bottom lip and then looked into his brown eyes.

She smiled softly, "it will be sore for a couple of days." She left to go to the kitchen and grabbed a rag, dipping it in the cold water. A few moments later she returned and wrapped the cloth around his wrist. "Imagine if someone _really_ attacked you and you got your arm broken, that would hurt a lot worse, right?" she grinned.

Solan rolled his eyes and frowned. "I know what you're doing. You don't want me to be a warrior, and you've proven that already, okay?" he sighed heavily.

Xena felt some tension between them and she sighed. "Look, Solan," she began. "I just want the best for you and I don't think –" she saw Solan starting to ignore her so she switched her words. "Sometimes people do things because they love and care about someone. I think you would be great in Athens," she smiled trying to reassure him as much as possible. She could not remember the last time she used such soft words with another human being, but as she was learning quickly, Solan was not going to respond to her harsh words like her prisoners and people would.

Solan immediately went back to what Ares said about losing Xena forever, he didn't really understand what that meant, but knew it wouldn't be good. He pursed his lips and stared at his mother for awhile until he spoke what was on his mind.

"Would you...hate me even if I did something horrible?" he asked.

Xena raised an eyebrow and then sat next to him in the empty chair. "I could never hate you Solan, just like I could never hate Gabrielle. I might be disappointed, but I could never hate you."

Solan simply nodded and then stood up. He handed the cold damp rag back to Xena and wanted to go outside for awhile to clear his head. "Thanks for that, for my arm...I mean, you know," he grinned. He exited the home and picked up a large stick and began twirling it with his uninjured wrist.

Xena watched him go off by himself and she frowned. Gabrielle entered the room with bloody hands from the rabbit and Xena raised an eyebrow at this, handing her the damp rag.

"Gabrielle, could you tell me of the time Ares came to see you again?" she casually asked, a bit unsure of Solan's behavior. She was sure that something was not quite right with him.

Gabrielle fumbled with her words. "I...are you sure you want to hear that again? I don't really want to talk about it, I mean..."

" _Gabrielle_ ," she chided.

Hesitantly, Gabrielle started retelling the time when Ares came to see her and show her the place of the powerful weapon he kept boasting about. This story went on for awhile until Xena interrupted her mid-sentence.

"Can you repeat that last part?" Xena asked, tapping her fingers on her knee as she sat down, staring at the wall.

Gabrielle raised her eyebrow, "he said it's a great weapon of power. And only somebody with the will to have it can –"

Xena groaned and shook her head, "no, after that!" she yelled.

"That the weapon needs a sacrifice?" Gabrielle answered in hopes that is what Xena meant by explaining the last thing she said.

Xena snapped her fingers and then stood up from her seat. The memory of Ares slipping into her bed next to her wearing that familiar fragrance that was very present on Solan when he arrived in Amphipolis. " _Lavender_ ," she hissed.

Gabrielle looked to her conqueror friend very puzzled and couldn't understand what was going through her mind right now. "What?"

Xena grabbed Gabrielle's shoulders tightly, "lavender, Gabrielle! It was Ares. Ares sent Solan here," her eyes grew more wild and icy as the War God's name slipped off her tongue.

"What would Ares want with Solan?" Gabrielle asked, still a bit confused at the entirety of the situation.

Xena started pacing back and forth with her hands placed firmly on her hips. Cyrene entered the room and saw Xena making an impending hole in her floor. She raised an eyebrow at her daughter and realized that Solan was not in the room. She had taken a break from tending to her guests in the tavern for awhile to see what everyone else was up to.

"Who caught the rabbit?" Cyrene asked with an intrigued smile.

Xena eyed her mother and then looked to Gabrielle. She paid no mind to her mother's question but instead came close to her. "If you see anything strange happen around here. Like a god appearing or something, tell Gabrielle," she hastily made her way for the door to run and find Solan, wherever he might be.

Cyrene had no time to respond and Xena was already out the door, running quickly to Argo and mounted her immediately taking off. "What is she talking about?" she turned to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle frowned, "I don't know, but I wish she'd include me in her plans," she groaned a bit irritated at Xena's sudden take off without any explanation.

* * *

Xena rode through the outskirts of her village once she didn't find Solan lurking there she figured he'd wandered off into the woods again. She halted Argo and came to a trot and saw Solan in the middle of the forest, swinging a large stick around like a sword.

She dismounted Argo and walked up to Solan careful not to startle him. Solan caught glimpse of his mother lurking behind a tree with Argo in tow.

"Solan I need to talk to you," she came up to him with wide eyes and then the wind picked up, lightning filled the skies. They both looked up and saw the once blue skies turn dark.

Solan shielded his face from the dust and leaves surrounding them. "What is happening?" he yelled over the loud gusts of wind.

Xena frowned, "Solan, grab my hand!" she yelled and he looked at her very confused. "Do it!" Solan didn't understand but he grabbed hold of her hand, gripping tightly.

* * *

Both shut their eyes and were now inside the snowy castle where the weapon was held. Xena opened her eyes and looked around to see she was not in Amphipolis anymore. Solan still held her hand and he looked around. He had been here before, but was unsure why Ares brought them here. He had not yet found a sacrifice that he promised.

Xena frowned, "Ares!" she shouted and suddenly the God of War appeared as soon as she called his name.

Ares slow clapped and smiled at mother and son, still holding hands. "How sweet, the two of you together, at last. Nice little family reunion you had there, huh Xena?"

Xena shook her head and let go of Solan's hand. She looked to him and saw his face turn snow white at Ares' appearance. "Don't worry, just let me handle this," she whispered to Solan.

"What do you think you're doing, Ares? What is this place? Is this all part of your game?" she questioned.

Ares smiled and circled Xena carefully. "Oh of course, Xena. You know me so well. I'm so glad you haven't forgotten about the little deal."

She shook her head, "I didn't agree to your deal, remember?" her lip twitched as he presence closed in on her.

"I wasn't talking about you, Xena," he stopped circling her and came to Solan, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. His face tensed and Xena turned to see his petrified face.

Her eyes grew, anger began to boil within her. She couldn't believe that Ares had resorted to using Gabrielle, but now Solan? That was it.

"Solan..." she tread carefully, taking a step forward. Her voice lowered, " _what_ did you do?" she pursed her lips. She balled her fist up, feeling her anger now taking her body over again.

He felt like he couldn't speak all of a sudden. The look on his mother's face was one that he had not seen before. He hadn't known her very long and the moments they had together were always when he was with Octavius in Rome and now in Amphipolis. It was always a controlled environment, but now everything was different. She was angry, he could clearly see that.

"I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't know...I didn't want something to happen to you," his speech was muffled between heavy breaths he kept taking as he stared into Xena's glacial eyes.

Ares grinned, "ah, Xena. Your son has much to learn from you! He already promised me a sacrifice. I knew you'd figure it out, just didn't think you would be that quick to," he frowned.

Xena grinned taking another step forward. "You've lost your touch, Ares!" she saw a sword mounted on the wall and flipped over backwards to retrieve the weapon off the wall. She smiled and began twirling the sword in her hand. Solan's eyes widened at this. He was actually afraid of her, though he was to blame, he was sure that she wasn't going to harm him, maybe.

She thrust the sword at Ares and he pulled his out of his sheath and blocked her blow. "Wow, it's come to this? You know you can't kill me, right?" he bragged.

Xena grinned and then head butted Ares and he stumbled backwards. Before he had time to react she came at him again with the blade. His eyes widened and he moved out of the way before she was able to strike him.

"Whoa!" Ares said and smiled as he blocked Xena's blade again. "Haven't lost _your_ touch, my dear."

Xena slipped the blade closer to Ares and then saw she actually drew blood from his bicep. She looked to her blade and a single drop of his blood dripped from the edge of the blade. She grinned, "ohhohoho," she circled the War God. "What kind of magical sword is this and why haven't I been privy to it before?" her smile became malicious now as they continued to dance around one another.

Solan watched his mother battle with this War God and he almost felt like he needed to be elsewhere, considering this was all his fault.

Xena struck the sword down on Ares' blade and he was luckily strong enough to hold her entire weight on the sword.

"Mother!" Solan yelled. Distracting Xena she looked to Solan's direction and Ares knocked her backward, flying into the opposite wall. She hit the stone wall and slid down to the floor, groaning. She felt blood trickle from her front temple onto her cheek.

Ares came to Solan and frowned, "your mother never held her end of the deal, Solan! Now it's up to you!" he snapped his fingers and a commoner appeared. An elderly man that had appeared to be crippled from a fight was now kneeling in front of Ares and Solan.

"Do it," Ares told Solan and handed him his sword. "Most powerful weapon in the world is in your hands, Solan..." he tempted him.

Xena slowly got up from the ground and felt her back become very stiff, like she pulled a few muscles. Her vision was a bit blurry from the blow but she walked towards Solan and Ares.

"No!" she grabbed the sword in Solan's hands. "Give it to me," she instructed with a low voice, pain overcoming her body.

She breathed out heavily from the agonizing pain in her head and back. "If this weapon is so powerful, how come _you_ don't have it?" she grinned, questioning Ares.

Ares shook his head, "I don't need it! I'm a god, remember?" he folded his arms.

"I don't ever recall meeting a god that bleeds..." she smirked, taking a look at the nice gash she gave him. The War God rolled his eyes in response, almost out of embarrassment.

"Mother..." Solan put a hand over hers as she held the blade within her grasp. "You aren't going to kill him are you?" looking down at the elderly man, he looked half way dead anyhow.

Xena looked down at the old man then back to her son and then to Ares. She thrust the point of the blade into a crack of the stone ground. "What _kind_ of sacrifice is needed for this...weapon?" she asked Ares.

He scoffed, "an innocent one of course. This man is a priest or something."

Xena nodded and then looked to a large round stone in the next room. She walked gingerly over to the stone and saw the two embossed circles in the stone. _So this is the weapon_. She grinned. Feeling her curiosity overcome her she had an eagerness to kill the poor old man to just see what kind of weapon this was and what it could do. The longer she stared at the empty circles, the more she wanted it.

She looked around the room and realized that the weaponry was Roman indeed, though the blade she held was Greek. She smirked and turned around facing Ares and Solan.

"You don't need a sacrifice for this weapon do you Ares?" Xena grinned, circling the War God.

Ares frowned and threw his hands in the air, "of course you do...you don't believe me? Would I lie to you?" he smiled sweetly.

"Yes," she raised an eyebrow. She quickly grabbed Ares' palm and sliced it open with the godly blade while he was distracted. She cut her palm as well and winced at the pain then clasped hands with Ares and head butted him once again, knocking him to the floor this time.

She walked over to the stone and squeezed the fused blood of hers and Ares onto one of the engraved circles. The blood dripped onto the stone and suddenly a bright light illuminated from the stone. Her eyes and smile grew as she stared at the stone and suddenly the weapon appeared before her eyes. The round weapon glowed red and she reached forward to grab the weapon.

Ares saw Xena reaching for the weapon and gasped. "No!" he yelled. "You don't know what you're doing, Xena!"

She grabbed the smoldering weapon, burning her hands in the process, but she didn't care. The burning sensation in her hands was ignored as her eyes sparkled, looking at the weapon she held in her hands. She felt suddenly something pass through her body and her mood changed. Her thoughts of once changing the world for good changed as soon as she held the weapon.

Solan witnessed his mother's expression change from warm to anger to malice in just a matter of minutes.

Suddenly another person appeared in the room and he looked towards Xena who was holding his weapon. He frowned at Ares who was standing up, brushing the blood off his hand onto his pant leg.

"Ares!" he growled. He snapped his fingers and a large group of men appeared. "Get her! She has the Dark Chakram!" he commanded his men and they came charging at Xena.

She looked at the weapon in her hands again and then acted quickly, she threw the chakram at the men, knocking a few down with ease. The chakram returned to her hands and her mouth gaped. She gritted her teeth and threw the chakram again and it sliced through two of the men's throats and flung back in her direction, catching it with one hand, she smiled.

Solan stood flabbergasted witnessing this battle between this other god's men and his mother. Xena ran towards him and she grabbed his arm, fleeing the castle as fast as they could.

Ares groaned and the other War God approached him with anger in his eyes. "Ares, what were you thinking?! Now she has the chakram! The world is in an imbalance now. Look what you've done!"

Ares rolled his eyes, "it wasn't supposed to be like that Kal. I was going to give her both of the chakrams," he chuckled.

"you've made a grave mistake, Ares..." Kal said and went to the stone where the chakrams were kept from human prying eyes. "I am the keeper of the Dark and Light Chakrams and now one is gone in the hands of that murdering woman!" he banged his fist on the stone.

Ares shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. I got what I wanted. Must be going now," he waved and disappeared in a flash. Kal groaned in frustration at the opposite War God.

* * *

Xena and Solan were now far enough from the castle in the snowy mountainous area. Their clothes were not exactly suitable for this weather. She marveled at the chakram in her hands.

Solan breathed heavily from the running. "You...you just killed all of those men with that..that _thing_!" he frowned.

Xena smiled, holding the chakram in the sunlight, admiring it's beauty. "Ares was right...this is a powerful weapon. A chakram.." she grinned even more hearing the name of the weapon, finally in her grasp. "a Dark Chakram..."


	31. Chapter 31

_Chapter 29_

Ares caught up to Xena and Solan as they traveled through the snowy woods beyond the castle on the mountain. He watched Xena as she casually threw the chakram from tree to tree, admiring the beauty of the weapon. He smiled and sauntered over to the two walking together.

"Nice weapon isn't it, Xena?" Ares winked and Xena swiftly turned around and raised an eyebrow at the war God.

"Yes...very nice weapon it is indeed," Xena's grin showed it all. "I need to return to Athens," her voice became firm and serious.

Ares nodded, "yes you do, would you like me to escort you there?" he slithered closer to her and received an eye roll from Solan, who now folded his arms, disgusted at Ares and his mother's behavior.

Xena huffed, "don't think that this little weapon and your generosity changes our relationship, Ares," she smirked.

Ares chuckled, "We'll see about that. Solan, are you joining your dear mother?" he looked over to the blonde teenager.

Solan frowned at the two. His mother was still ogling the chakram and completely enthralled with it like it was her new toy that she was given. He shook his head as his response. "I'd rather go back with Gabrielle!" he spat out.

This outburst caught Xena's attention and she hooked the chakram to her belt and walked to Solan, but he took a large step backwards from her as she reached her hand out. She frowned, saddened by his sudden reluctance towards her.

"Solan..." Xena spoke in a soft tone. "I can give you everything you ever wanted in Athens! Come to school, live with _me_ ," her eyes grew wild, feeling the war inside of her rise as she kept taking steps closer to her son.

Solan bumped into a tree, causing the snow filled branches to shake. He looked up at the tall tree then back to his mother. "I don't want to go anywhere with you. My uncle was right about you. You'll never change!" he stared into Xena's glacial eyes, unable to turn away. Usually he felt uncomfortable looking at her but now he was beyond angry with her. All because of that stupid weapon, she changed back to her old ways in a split second.

Ares sighed loudly, "let's just send him back to Gabrielle, shall we?" with a snap Solan was gone and Xena reached forward to embrace him but he had already disappeared.

Her eyebrows furrowed and then she thought of Gabrielle. "Gabrielle..." she whispered.

Ares came around to Xena and put his hands on her shoulders gingerly. "Don't worry she'll still be there, right?" he winked.

Xena didn't want Gabrielle to be once again lost in her web of lies and deceit. She touched the chakram on her hip and a smile came to her lips. She brushed off Ares' hands on her shoulders and turned around, twirling the chakram in her hand.

"Let's go." She demanded. And with a flash both disappeared to Athens.

* * *

Solan was now back in Amphipolis and ran towards Cyrene's home and ran through the door, startling both Gabrielle and Cyrene.

Gabrielle frowned and looked behind Solan to see if Xena was with him but she did not appear at all to be with him. It took him a bit to catch his breath and then Gabrielle went outside to see if Xena was coming still.

"Solan, where is Xena?" she asked, with her hands on her hips.

Solan swallowed and tried to calm himself from the running. "She..." he breathed out slowly, "she left."

Gabrielle started pacing and then smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand irately. "What do you mean she _left_?! Where did you two go? Where is she?" she yelled, firing questions rapidly at Solan.

He fumbled and began fidgeting with his fingers behind his back. "She...she..." he swallowed.

"Where. Is. She?" Gabrielle folded her arms and pursed her lips.

Solan sighed, "she went back to Athens with Ares. She got that chakram," he paused and realized that Gabrielle didn't understand what he was talking about. "The weapon," he clarified.

Cyrene was still very confused and continued to stay in the background, observing. Gabrielle hit the wall with her fist balled up and groaned in anger. _How could she betray me? She promised she wouldn't do it, but she did._

Gabrielle narrowed her eyes and then anger boiled inside of her. The hate she once felt for Xena when she was a child was not present, but a new feeling –betrayal. "Solan," she began, "you mean to tell me that you and Xena went to that castle in the mountains to get this...chakram?"

He nodded vigorously, "yes...but I didn't know she was going to...take it, you know..." he sighed, almost embarrassed of her behavior.

_Of course she was going to take it, she couldn't resist_. Gabrielle smirked, upset at Xena's decision. "Solan, can you remember where that castle is?"

Solan quirked his mouth to the side, "hmm, I think so. I was only there for a few minutes...I donno Gabrielle," he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're going to have to remember because we're going there," Gabrielle left the room to grab her coat from the bedroom. She turned to Cyrene and smiled, "I'm sorry Cyrene, for all of this...mess."

Cyrene sadly smiled at Gabrielle, "It's alright, Xena is a handful and now that she is gone back to Athens I only fear that she will return to the way she used to be."

"I'm counting on it," Gabrielle nodded and then went outside leaving Solan inside of the den. He stared blankly at the wall with his arms folded.

Cyrene approached him carefully and he flinched when she touched his shoulder gently. "I am glad that I was able to finally meet you, Solan," she smiled.

Solan nodded and set his hand on hers, "me too," he sighed sadly.

Xena's mother gave him a reassuring pat on the back and grinned widely, "Xena loves you very much, that is obvious. She has..changed much since I have seen her." Her voice lowered in a more solemn tone.

Gabrielle peeked her head around the corner into the entrance, "Solan go find Argo and then we'll leave."

He nodded, "right, of course..." he took one glance back at Cyrene and then ran outside to the woods where Xena left Argo tied to a tree.

* * *

The door's of Xena's palace opened by her guards and she stormed in passing by some her servants, who bowed to her. She smiled as she marched through the marble halls fiercely. Racha came to her aid with a warm cloth to wipe her face of the dry blood. Xena grabbed it and continued walking to go to her bedroom.

"Racha, send out for some new gowns to be made. Preferably in silk," she marched up the stairs.

Racha nodded, "what colors?" she asked in a small voice as she tread up the stairs following the conqueror.

Xena threw the cloth on her vanity as soon as she walked into her bedroom. "All of them!" she yelled out and began taking off her corset and blouse to take a bath. Racha nodded confusedly and before she left her room to grab some towels, she looked to Xena, half dressed.

"Where is your scribe?" Racha asked with a tiny voice.

Xena stopped unlacing her pants and sighed. "I can't worry about Gabrielle right now. Not when I have so many things to accomplish," she turned her head and frowned, "now, get out!" she yelled. Racha quickly closed the door and went to fetch some towels.

She took her robe and wrapped it around her body. Walking closer to her vanity she began looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her fingertips grazed her tired eyes and reddened cheeks. Her eyes drifted over to the edge of the vanity and saw the Chinese wooden doll figure still sitting there. Hesitantly she grabbed it and held it in her palm. She smiled, touching the intricate designs of the doll, remembering Eve's innocent face. _Maybe one day, little one_. Xena sighed and placed the doll inside the drawer of her vanity and then grew tired of staring at herself.

Sauntering over to her pet spider, Zoe, she opened the cage and let her furry friend crawl onto her hand. "It has been awhile, my sweet," she brought the spider up to her shoulder and looked out beyond her fortress into the nearby village. She casually walked around her bed and then went into the bathroom to organize her soaps and oils for her bath.

As her mind began to travel she thought of Gabrielle. _Should I have asked Ares to bring Gabrielle with me?_ Xena shook her head at this. _No, she wouldn't agree with me and she'd just get in the way_.

Racha came in with some fresh linens and walked into the bathroom. "Where would you like these?" she asked.

Xena was caught in a daze and she shook her head, grabbing Zoe off her shoulder and placing her on the edge of the tub. "Just leave it on my chair," she waved her dismissively.

* * *

Three days later Gabrielle and Solan traveled together to Italia to find the castle with the chakram inside. They had stopped only a few times to make camp and eat of course. Solan was growing tired of traveling. He normally did not travel like this for more than a couple of days, but Gabrielle had told him that they wouldn't be in the mountainous area for another two days.

Gabrielle sat behind Solan as he guided Argo through the terrain and he yawned audibly. It was close to sunset and they would need to make camp once again for the third time in a row. Cyrene was nice enough to give them some rations for their travels.

She tapped Solan, "we can stop here," she hopped off Argo and began collecting wood for their campfire.

Solan tied Argo to a nearby tree and helped Gabrielle gather some sticks. He trailed behind her and kept staring at her. Gabrielle felt his eyes burning in her back and she grinned.

"Something on your mind, Solan?" she asked, kneeling down to grab some more wood.

Solan sighed, "I don't know why we're going back to that place..." he admitted.

Gabrielle threw the firewood down and began to attempt to make a fire. She groaned becoming a bit frustrated at the lack of friction from the stones she gathered. "We need to find out if there's a way to get the chakram back from Xena."

"I don't think she's going to give that up," he whistled and sat down on the ground, leaning his chin on his palm, sighing loudly.

She was finally able to make a small spark to ignite the fire and she sat down on a rock, poking the fire with a long stick.

"She's going to have to," she said defiantly. "That will destroy her."

There was a long moment of silence and then Solan scooted closer to the fire as the sun began to set. "You've known my mother for awhile, right?" Gabrielle nodded in response.

"Do you really think she can change? I mean...you didn't see her with that chakram, she killed everyone with it," he mumbled.

Gabrielle set the stick aside and grabbed the wine skin to drink some water, feeling a bit dehydrated. "I think she can, she is just afraid to."

Solan chuckled at this. "Afraid? I don't think so."

"She is so afraid of change that she'd rather be stuck in her old ways because it's comfortable to her. She could be such a great empress, yet she isn't. She won't let go of her dark side."

The teenager could understand this. Everything Octavius told him about Xena was true but Gabrielle somehow believes that she can change for the better. He had a hard time believing that.

"So what are you going to do when you see her again?" he asked.

Silence and then Gabrielle smiled. "I'm going to show her what I'm truly capable of."

* * *

Xena's heels clicked through the marble halls and her long flowing gown trailed behind her. Her hair done in a tight bun on top of her head and she wore fine jewelry. Smiling, she touched the pendant on her neck. She walked to the training balcony and oversaw her soldiers training once again. She had stopped the training when she had changed her laws within her empire, but now she changed them to her old rules once again.

She smiled, taking a glass of wine as she watched her men tear each other apart. She leaned over the balcony and narrowed her eyes, immediately thinking of Gabrielle when she was training with her men. She was so good, she thought to herself. A smirk came to her lips as one of her men was stabbed brutally by another soldier.

One of Xena's generals was on the training grounds overseeing the soldiers training. He looked up to Xena to see if she was pleased and she simply nodded her head curtly. He then bowed to her and kept surveying the training.

She sat down in a chair and kept drinking her wine, enjoying the nice weather and sounds of screams and yelps below her. A smile came to her lips and she then looked at her chakram –her reflection on the metal.

"Racha give me some parchment. I wish to write down a few notes on how to improve my empire," she snapped her fingers and Racha retreated to find some parchment and a quill.

The servant girl came back with parchment and quill, handing it to Xena she watched her as she began jotting down some key points. Xena smiled as she kept writing, continuing to dip the quill in the ink pad.

"I should educate those in my army, to read many languages. They are from different provinces after all," she grinned as she looked at her notes. "I should also...get all boys over the age sixteen to join my army, what do you think?" she looked to Racha.

Racha didn't say anything but seemed a bit speechless that she was asking her about her opinion on such things. She was just a maid.

Xena sighed and realized that Racha was not her scribe, but Gabrielle was. Now that Gabrielle was not here, she was starting to come to the realization that she was more important than she originally thought. She always asked her about her thoughts and now she had nobody. Becoming frustrated at that thought she crumbled the parchment and threw it to the side and began writing down some more notes.

* * *

Gabrielle decided to take control of Argo while Solan slept behind her. They had finally reached Italia and she saw snow on the ground now as well as the tall mountains only a few yards away. She squinted her eyes and was able to see a castle on top of a mountain hiding behind some fog.

She nudged Solan with her elbow, jolting the boy awake. She pointed ahead, "is that the castle, Solan?"

He rubbed his eyes and widened them to see what Gabrielle was pointing at. Suddenly now he was more alert. "Yes, I think so!"

Gabrielle kicked Argo and they rode as quickly as possible and as far as possible to reach the mountain where the castle was.

Upon arriving Gabrielle dismounted the horse and looked at a long spiraling staircase on the side of the mountain. Solan followed, reaching for a coat Cyrene gave him, so he could wrap it around his body.

"Looks like the only way is up from here," Gabrielle grinned and immediately ran up the stone staircase with Solan following her.

A few minutes later Gabrielle and Solan entered the small castle and her eyes traveled the room. Noticing the place was a mess, guessing it was from Xena's little escapade. This was definitely the place that Ares took her to a while ago. She saw the stone in a separate room and ran to it.

Glancing at the stone she saw that one of the circles engraved in the stone was black, not like it was before. _This must be the chakram that Xena took_. She touched the blackened area with her fingertips. Retracting her fingers she saw ashes present on her fingers and frowned.

She suddenly realized a large breeze came through the room and turned to see an imposing figure standing in front of her and Solan.

Kal, the other God of War, appeared before Gabrielle. He frowned as he saw that she was standing very close to the chakram altar.

"did Ares send you?" his voice boomed, folding his large arms.

Gabrielle shook her head in disgust. "No, no...I just...I have some questions about this chakram." She pointed to the altar.

"Someone took the dark chakram and I have no way to get it back. I obviously could not trust Ares," he grimaced.

"Xena took it, I know," she said raising her hand. Kal eyed her carefully and came really close to her, inches away from her face.

He smiled, "and so what exactly do you want then? Why have you come here when you can clearly see it is gone?!" he yelled.

Gabrielle took a step back as she saw the angry god figure was becoming a bit irate. She smiled softly. "Well, I just want to know if I can somehow get it back...from Xena?"

Kal laughed tremendously. "Get it back?! Are you insane, girl?" he said, laughing still. "She possesses all of its power now. The dark chakram can only be controlled by the one with a dark heart." He paused. "and she indeed has a dark heart." He said with a low voice.

Gabrielle looked to the other circle on the stone and frowned. "And what about the other chakram? There are two circles there," she pointed at the altar.

Kal nodded, "there is a light chakram. Only one of pure heart can obtain it," he stood in front of it, grazing the empty stone with his fingers.

Gabrielle came to the stone and eyed Solan carefully. He looked as if he didn't want to be here. She then averted her eyes to Kal, the War God, standing next to her. "What if...I take the light chakram to get the dark chakram back from Xena?"

Kal smirked. "If only it were that easy, little girl!" he sauntered over to the balcony and gazed at the snow falling from the skies.

She frowned, "what do I have to do then?"

The War God sighed and turned to Gabrielle. "Look, I don't know who you are and if you're a friend of Xena's then..."

"Just tell me what to do. I want to help," she pleaded.

He groaned, "the chakrams are unbalanced now. In order for them to be balanced again, the two must be combined together to –"

"create balance..." she whispered to herself. She walked back over to the altar and touched the light chakram circle with her fingers. Her tips burned a little. Kal watched her closely, not believing what he was watching. He knew that only someone of a pure heart could obtain the chakram, but if they weren't pure then they would burn spontaneously.

Gabrielle closed her eyes and reverted back to her childhood –before everything went horribly wrong and before Xena came to destroy her village. A smile came to her as she thought of her parents and her sister, Lila. Her fingers burned even more and she winced, but still kept focus on her past life.

She gritted her teeth the more the burning sensation became too intense, but she kept onward. Opening her eyes she saw a bright light appear, enough to the fill the entire room.

Kal walked forward and saw the light chakram in Gabrielle's hands.

Gabrielle grinned, holding the chakram in her hand. Focusing her positive energy was able to generate the chakram to life, unlike Xena did with her own blood, she was able to use pure energy.

Solan ran towards Gabrielle and smiled widely, "Gabrielle, you did it! how?" he was completely dumbfounded.

She grinned, "I just remembered everything that was special to me once," she held the chakram in her hand, the metal so perfectly round and sharp as well.

Kal clapped his hands slowly, "congratulations. Now both my chakrams are gone!" he groaned. "And unbalanced." He paused and then saw the look on the blonde's face.

"They won't be unbalanced for long," she said with determination.

* * *

A week later Xena sat on her balcony again, going over some strategy plans with her general. Racha brought in a woman almost the same size as Xena to try on some gowns to see which one she liked more while she was discussing with her general.

A whooshing sound was heard from down below and it broke Xena's wine vase on the table near her, shattering in billions of pieces and wine stained her burgundy gown and shoes. She grimaced and immediately stood over the balcony to see someone she hadn't seen in almost two weeks –Gabrielle.

Gabrielle stood on the training ground with many soldiers surrounding her. The chakram returned to Gabrielle's hand and she smiled seeing the surprised look on Xena's face. It was almost a jealous look, but nonetheless, a look of defiance on her part.

"Xena!" Gabrielle called out. "I have something you want!" she egged on the empress.

Xena became furious and her lip snarled. "What do you want Gabrielle?!" she yelled out.

"I want to fight you," Gabrielle grinned and many of Xena's men looked to each other and started laughing. Even Xena started laughing but then realized her once blonde friend wasn't joking around.

"Fight me? Do you wish to die?" Xena called out with a large grin as she leaned against the balustrade.

Many of the men laughed alongside their conqueror and Gabrielle frowned. "Do you?" she challenged Xena and then an eminent frown came to Xena's lips. Growing impatient she waved off her men surrounding Gabrielle and flipped off the balcony and onto the training ground.

She circled the blonde carefully examining her and saw the opposite chakram in her hands. "Nice little toy you got there," Xena hissed.

"It can be yours, _if_ you win against a fight with me, Xena," Gabrielle challenged her yet again.

Xena laughed and folded her arms, inches away from her face. "you are not going to give up are you, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle swiftly kicked Xena's shin and knocked her back with a blow to her chin, alarming Xena at the unexpected punch. Xena frowned and now grabbed a sword from one her men and smiled.

"Alright fine! This is what you want, then you shall get it, Gabrielle," she smiled, circling the blonde.

The two danced around one another and Gabrielle did not have a weapon with her except the chakram she carried, but she was going to save that for later. Xena thrust the sword to Gabrielle and she blocked it carefully. She swept to the side and then knelt down, knocking Xena off from her feet and landed flat on her back, the sword sliding across the sand.

"No weapons, Xena. This is supposed to be a fair fight," Gabrielle said with a smile and backed away from the conqueror as she stood up slowly.

Xena shook her head, trying to focus carefully. "Why do you want to fight me?" Xena yelled.

Gabrielle frowned, "because you accepted! I didn't think you would actually fight me."

Xena grinned and flipped over and punched Gabrielle in the shoulder and then her nose. The blonde held her broken nose, bleeding profusely. She growled and ran towards Xena, ramming her into the ground and flipped Xena over, holding onto her neck. Xena's hands grabbed Gabrielle's as well, both staring in each other's eyes.

Gabrielle's hold was not as strong as Xena's so she began coughing. "I thought...we were...friends!" she choked out.

Xena looked into Gabrielle's green eyes and realized she was choking her best friend and slowly let her grip up. The blonde then head butted Xena and flipped her over again, standing over her she kicked her in the side. Xena coughed up some blood and tried to crawl away.

Gabrielle then grabbed Xena's gown and drug her across the sand and kicked her in the stomach once again, causing Xena to groan. The conqueror woman was getting fed up with this and kicked Gabrielle's legs, knocking her down.

Xena stood over Gabrielle now with a sword in hand, close to her throat. " _Friends_?" she grinned with wild eyes.

Gabrielle's eyes widened as she saw she was a bit defeated as Xena held the sword to her throat. She looked into the glacial eyes opposite hers. "Does it make you feel better?"

"What are you talking about?" Xena spat.

She swallowed, "knowing that you will kill your friend...will it make you feel better?"

Xena's mind began to race and those thoughts became confusing. Guilt was her downfall as of late. She thought she had gotten rid of that a long time ago, but now it was back.

Gabrielle knocked the sword out of Xena's hands and rammed her into the ground, grabbing the sword and now holding it to Xena's throat like she did to her.

"How does it feel now?" Gabrielle frowned, her eyes swelling with tears.

Xena looked to her men staring at her. Once eyes full of pride were now filled with doubt as she lay on the ground with a sword to her throat by her friend...she had forgotten what it was like to have a friend.

Gabrielle backed away still with the sword in her hand. Xena leaned on her elbows and stared at all her men, giving her looks of disappointment. She slowly got up slowly and touched her bleeding lip and side of her head.

Xena stood and eyes were all on her, Gabrielle's included. She walked carefully back into her palace as the silence became too intense surrounding her.

Gabrielle's eyes watched Xena slowly retreat back into her fortress, defeated.

"I'm sorry Xena, but I had to do it..." Gabrielle whispered and dropped the sword onto the hot sand beneath her feet.

**AN: well I hate to leave it like this, but I am for now. My next chapter will be an epilogue, tying loose ends together and now that Xena has been publicly humiliated, you will see her change..eventually. Gabrielle will be present in the epilogue, though not as Xena's enemy. Stay tuned ;)**


	32. Chapter 32

**AN: this is not the epilogue. Decided to extend it a bit ;) Enjoy and thank you for feedback.**

_Chapter 30_

Xena sat in her room by herself wiping the blood off her face with a wet cloth refusing any attention from Racha or any other maid that came by her room.

She heard the door open and growled. "I said get ou –" she turned and saw Gabrielle enter her room and suddenly the frown disappeared from her face and she shied away from her.

Gabrielle closed the door behind her and stared at the brunette woman before her. She thought she was her friend, but she had turned to the dark side it seemed once she obtained that dark chakram Kal spoke about.

She took a few steps closer towards Xena and grabbed the cloth from the conqueror's hand with ease. Xena did not put up a fight now as she did earlier and Gabrielle dabbed the side of Xena's head.

Xena winced as Gabrielle continued to doctor the wound lightly with the rag. "Why are you doing this?" she mumbled, scratching her cheek feeling ashamed of herself.

Gabrielle smiled, "because you're hurt," she continued to dab Xena's wound and then a hand grabbed her wrist. Xena looked up at her blonde friend and saw the softness in her green eyes. She also saw what she did to her nose. Her hand reached for Gabrielle's cheek and she gently touched her broken swollen nose. Gabrielle did not even flinch as much as she thought she would.

Xena's eyes swelled with tears, "I'm sorry I did that to you. I –I didn't want to hurt you but you just..." suddenly her words were lost to her and she could no longer think of anything else to say.

Gabrielle shook her head, grabbing Xena's hand wrapping her fingers around it. "I asked you to fight me and you did."

"And I lost," Xena frowned and looked away at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheek was bruised, her lip bleeding and her head wound was very obvious especially with the dried blood stained on her cheek.

The blonde smirked, "you don't seem surprised, Xena. I wasn't trying to fight you so you would lose, I wanted to fight you because I believe you can better yourself."

Xena chuckled lightly at this. "You wanted to fight me to prove that I can better myself? What kind of crap is that?" she picked up her hair brush and casually twirled it in her hand as if it were a sword.

Gabrielle sighed and knelt down close to Xena and set her hand on her thigh, "Xena, something changed in when you got that chakram. Solan said so and I saw it when I came to your palace." She felt Xena's body tense as she mentioned her son.

She continued since Xena stayed quiet. "You know, your people will never love you if you revert back to your old ways and –"

"I can't change who I am, Gabrielle!" Xena leaned her head against her fist and huffed, breathing heavier. Gabrielle blinked and then stood, sliding her hand off Xena's thigh.

"I think you can, but you just don't want to," her voice lowered, radiating importance.

Xena put a hand on her hip and grimaced at her blonde friend standing to the side of her with her arms folded and a serious expression no less. "I don't need people to love me," she looked to her reflection again. "I just need them to obey me." She began rearranging perfume bottles on her vanity to distract herself from this conversation. She did not wish to look into Gabrielle's eyes right now.

"Solan loves you," Gabrielle blatantly said. Xena stopped organizing her belongings and a few moments of silence passed between the two women. "Your mother loves you," she continued and the tension thickened in the room. Xena bit her bottom lip as those words sank into her mind. She almost didn't want to hear that someone loved her, it was too powerful –love was more powerful than a sword sometimes. Xena always thought that love was a weakness and distracted the mind in battle so she steered away from it at all costs.

Gabrielle saw those gears turning in Xena's mind and she felt her heart racing faster as the silence deepened. "And I love you," she said quietly. Xena's mind stopped racing. She looked to Gabrielle with her mouth agape and very confused.

" _what_?" Xena asked with disbelief.

The blonde warrior felt her cheeks flush and she smiled slightly embarrassed. "Do I need to repeat myself?" she hid her smile behind her slender fingers.

Xena shook her head and stood up slowly, walking towards her balcony looking out at her training grounds and villages beyond her fortress. She touched the stone ledge with her fingers and looked down to the trees gently swaying in the wind. Her hair blew in her face lightly and she breathed out slowly.

Slowly turning around she leaned against the ledge. "How can you love someone like me? I am a murderer. I've done horrible things in my life. I am not –"

Gabrielle smiled warmly, "everyone deserves love, Xena. Even if you don't believe it, you deserve it too."

"You _really_ believe that?" she chided and folded her arms defensively.

Gabrielle came to Xena and unfolded her arms gently, causing Xena to look away. She sensed that Xena did not want to show any type of love towards her or anybody for that matter. "Yes, I do. Why can't you believe that?"

Xena walked away from Gabrielle and started pacing back and forth unconsciously. "I killed your family and you think I did that out of _love_? No, I did it because I was bored. You can't possibly love me. Hades would laugh at you for such kindness, Gabrielle," she hissed.

"I forgave you, Xena. I wish you'd believe that," she sighed.

Xena's eyes grew and suddenly felt angry at Gabrielle for even saying such words to her. "Maybe I cannot forgive myself. Can you believe _that_?"

Silence passed between the two and Xena folded her arms staring at the wall. Gabrielle looked to the floor, biting her bottom lip, feeling she had touched a nerve.

Xena looked at the silent Gabrielle and sighed inwardly. "Come sit down," she nudged her head for Gabrielle to sit down on her bed. Her blonde friend carefully waltzed over to the bed and sat down watching Xena retreat to her bathroom.

She came out with a fresh rag and a basin of warm water. Xena knelt down in front of Gabrielle and dipped the cloth into the warm water gently squeezing out the excess liquid. Carefully she dabbed the rag on Gabrielle's broken nose and saw her flinch a bit. A small grin came to Xena's lips as she kept doctoring Gabrielle's nose.

"I can teach you to block better so something like this doesn't happen to you, _again_ ," Xena smirked.

Gabrielle smiled at Xena's jesting mood and stayed still as she allowed the empress to clean her nose and de-swell it.

A few minutes passed by and then Xena set the rag into the water, drying her hands off onto her clothes. Gabrielle's eyebrows furrowed watching what she was doing with precision. "What are you doing now?"

Xena looked to her friend's green puzzled eyes. "I am going to readjust your nose. Could you sit still for me?" she smiled. Gabrielle wasn't feeling very confident at this moment but she simply nodded, trusting Xena completely. The conqueror's hands traveled to the back of Gabrielle's neck and the blonde's eyes darted back and forth observing everything. A bit of pressure was applied to the back of her head and the slight throbbing from her nose was gone.

"This is going to hurt when I'm finished, alright?" she reassured her friend. Gabrielle nodded as her nerves heightened. Xena swiftly cracked Gabrielle's nose and saw no initial reaction from her. She then released Gabrielle from the temporary numbing after she realigned her nose.

Gabrielle cringed and immediately her hand went to her nose feeling all of the pain, worse than when it was broken. "By the gods!" she groaned and she received a sly smile from Xena.

"I told you it was going to hurt," Xena stood and took the basin of water and rag back into the bathroom. Moments later she returned and stood in front of Gabrielle.

She sighed, "how did you get that other chakram?" she asked curiously.

Suddenly the pain in her nose wasn't so important at the moment. Gabrielle's eyes traveled up to Xena's and she knew this wasn't going to go as planned. She needed to combine both chakrams to create balance again, but with Xena being the way she is, she was confident that Xena wasn't going to just give up the chakram willingly.

"Well," Gabrielle grinned, "I didn't need to kill anybody to get it if that's what you mean."

Xena sighed and walked around the table in her room. "very funny. You said I could have it if I won, but I lost." Silence.

"So I guess, you get to keep it huh?" she grinned with mirth in her eyes.

The blonde nodded, "something like that, I suppose." Xena looked to be satisfied with that answer and did not ask anymore question. For that, Gabrielle was very thankful for. She then stood and decided to leave Xena to be alone once again.

Xena saw her heading for the door and called out, "Gabrielle..."

She turned around and raised her eyebrows with her hand still holding her sore nose.

"If you believe that I can change, why..can't I?" her eyebrows creased, unable to process these words that seemed to just flow out of her mouth without her mind's consent.

Gabrielle smiled, "these things don't come easily. Give it some time," she nodded graciously and quietly exited the room closing the door behind her.

_Time. I don't have a lot of time, but perhaps, I can make time._ Xena smiled at her own thoughts. She went to her vanity and pulled out the Chinese doll that Eve had in her alternate reality. Carefully she walked over to her bedside table and placed it there. "I have a lot of time."

* * *

Gabrielle walked down the halls knowing exactly where she was going. She was heading back to her regular quarters to lay down for awhile. She had hoped Solan made it back to Rome alright. She was able to drop him off after she retrieved the chakram and catch a ship from Rome to Athens afterwards. She had figured that Octavius had wondered where he had been for the past week, but when they arrived in Rome, Solan noticed that he was not missed, or that it went unnoticed that he was gone. Gabrielle suspected that was Ares' doing more than anything.

She came to her bedroom and sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she shut the door. She was glad to be back in her room. Truthfully she would have never thought she'd admit that being in Xena's palace, but it was true. She had quite an adventure but too bad it wasn't over. Her hand glided over the chakram placed underneath her coat. Then she tossed it onto her bed and took off her coat.

Instantly she felt even more disgusting since being on the road with Solan and Xena as well. She wanted to wash her skin of dirt and dried blood as it was much needed. She set down her bag of scrolls on her desk and grabbed her robe to head for a bath. Carefully stepping out into the hallway she saw nobody pass by so she went to the baths.

* * *

An hour later Xena came down the stairs from her room and rolled up a piece of parchment as she walked down the long halls. She came to Gabrielle's room assuming she'd be inside there since she hadn't heard from her. Her knuckles gently rapped on the door. "Gabrielle?" she called out but there was no answer so she knocked again. With no response she opened the door and peeked inside, but saw that Gabrielle was not in her room.

She looked to the halls and saw Gabrielle was nowhere in sight so she let herself in the room. She walked over to the desk and placed the rolled scroll on it. as soon as she turned around she caught a glimpse of the chakram on Gabrielle's bed. Her eyes darted to the door and immediately skipped over to the door and closed it quietly.

Xena carefully stepped closer to the chakram and looked at it with curiosity. Slowly she reached for the weapon and touched it with her fingertips. A sharp burn came to her hand and she snatched her flesh away from the chakram with an audible gasp. Grabbing her hand she saw burn marks on her fingers. Wincing she gritted her teeth from the stinging pain caused from the chakram.

A few moments later she left Gabrielle's room and closed the door, glancing down at her hand, her fingers were bright red. _Dammit_.

Gabrielle approached Xena as she was standing outside her bedroom door. "Xena?" she smiled. Xena hid her hand behind her back and grinned falsely at her friend. "What are you doing?"

Xena thought quickly, "I decided to go for a walk." She paused and saw Gabrielle quirk her mouth to the side. "To clear my head," she nodded.

Gabrielle nodded as well not sure she totally believed Xena, but she didn't want to pry. "If you say so. I'm going to rest for awhile. Maybe we can talk more...later?" she opened her door slightly and Xena smiled with her lips pursed.

"Right. If you say so." With that Gabrielle smiled and closed the door and Xena hissed in agony. She looked at her hand and saw the forming blisters had traveled from her fingertips to her palm now. Her eyes widened with fear and she hastily walked down the halls to go outside.

* * *

Awhile later she traveled by foot to the outskirts of her palace walls. She glanced down at her hand and saw the burns traveled further down her arm and almost reached her elbow. "Ares!" she yelled out into the skies. The pain increased on her arm and she groaned.

Ares appeared and was leaning on a tree casually. He grinned as he saw Xena groaning in agony. "You touched the light chakram didn't you?" he shook his head. "Xena, Xena, Xena. I would tell you that's a no-no but I see you beat me to it," he chuckled.

"Ares, you bastard! How do I make it stop spreading?" she held her arm and the pain traveled up her arm even more, almost to her shoulder.

He stepped closer to Xena and touched her arm. She winced and used her other fist to punch the War God in the shoulder. He frowned. "You ask for help and then punch me? Wow."

He sighed as he saw his woman of his desires was suffering immensely. He felt the need to lend a helping hand. "Only a person of pure heart can touch that chakram. That's something you don't have, my dear," he kissed her neck softly and Xena let out a cry and head butted him and kicked him into the stone walls that surrounded her fortress.

"Tell me how I stop it!" she demanded as Ares stood up from the blow. He brushed off some dirt from his black vest and frowned at Xena.

He pointed his finger at her, "look! I've helped you many times in our time together, but this is one that you'll have to figure out by yourself, princess!" with that he disappeared in a flash.

Xena groaned as the pain traveled up to her collar bone, she ran back inside her palace with wild hair. She immediately went to Gabrielle's room and didn't even bother to knock this time she entered unannounced.

Gabrielle heard the door slam into the wall and she sat up on her bed setting her scroll and quill aside on the bed. "Xena?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

Xena knelt down in front of Gabrielle's bed and breathed heavily. "Gabrielle...my arm.." she hissed and rolled up her sleeve to reveal her burned arm. Gabrielle's eyes grew in shock as she saw Xena's arm. She touched it gently and Xena gritted her teeth from the touch.

"What –what happened? What is this?" Gabrielle examined her arm even more and ripped the sleeve off and saw it was traveling to her collar bone and further onto her neck.

"I touched...your chakram, I'm sorry," she admitted and Gabrielle pulled her hand away from Xena's pained arm.

She looked at her in-curiously. "You did what?" Xena looked up to her eyes and she saw that she was quite remorseful but Gabrielle didn't want to believe this. She stood up and started pacing back and forth.

Gabrielle rubbed her forehead with her palm furiously. "I can't believe you did that? How could you?"

Xena cried out softly. "I'm sorry!"

"Your greed was just too much for you to handle, obviously!" Gabrielle spat. She sat down on the bed staring at Xena as she still knelt close to her. "Have you learned _nothing_?" she questioned.

Xena, feeling irritated at Gabrielle's abruptness and pain getting worse by the minute. "It is not like those things come with a manual!" she yelled out.

"It's called control, Xena!" she sighed angrily. "Something you don't have." She added solemnly.

Xena closed her eyes and touched her neck, feeling her skin blister as Gabrielle stood by and did nothing to aid her. "Gabrielle please...help me."

"How?" Gabrielle hastily asked. She reached for the light chakram, allowing it to be held in her hands while Xena suffered before her. Xena had touched the chakram and now she was getting a taste of it, taste of purity, taste of the light, something that she had not experienced in many moons. She looked to her friend on the floor leaning against the bed in pain.

Xena felt her body rebelling against her and she had no control over it. Gabrielle set the chakram aside, watching her friend's body change right before her eyes. Her skin once a beautiful olive tone had changed to a blistering hellfire on one half of her flesh.

"Why are you hurting?" Gabrielle asked.

The conqueror woman growled, "what kind of stupid question is that?!"

Gabrielle shook her head, "no, why are you _hurting_? Inside."

Xena's thoughts raced, her mind no longer agreeing with her and she began to lose concentration. Gabrielle asked the question again and she still did not answer. Once she did not answer the second time Gabrielle asked once more. She cried out, "I don't want to be like this anymore!"

"Be like _what_ Xena?" she asked and there was no immediate answer. "like what?!" she yelled at Xena.

Xena stared at the ceiling, feeling her heart throbbing in her head, unable to think clearly. "like this...like me. I can't be _me_ anymore," she admitted, feeling a single tear glide down her cheek.

"Why?" Gabrielle questioned onward. As Xena still stared up at the ceiling she noticed that the blisters had dissipated on her collar bone and neck, retreating back to her arm. Xena did not take notice so she pressed further and repeated herself.

"Because...I'm a horrible person. I've done unspeakable things to people...to lands...countries." she continued and the burns still retreated back to her wrist. Xena blinked and looked down to see her arm not covered in blisters but her hand still burned immensely.

Gabrielle grinned softly, feeling a bit relieved, despite her anger for Xena even trying to gain power from the light chakram. "Why did you do those things, Xena?" her voice much softer now.

Xena sighed and watched her hand, still burning and blisters apparent. She looked to Gabrielle with saddened eyes. "I was angry." She looked down at her hand and now the redness from the burns traveled to just her fingertips. "I was angry at myself..."

Suddenly the blisters and burns were completely void from her flesh and Xena grinned widely. Gabrielle shared a smile as well then touched Xena's shoulder. Xena swiveled her head around, staring at her blonde friend.

"The dark chakram Xena..." she looked to Xena's belt that held the chakram. Xena took it off her belt and looked at all of its glory. Gabrielle grabbed the light chakram and held it close to the dark chakram in Xena's hand.

"Take it," she egged on Xena to take the light chakram. She saw fear in the brunette's eyes but nudged it closer to her.

Xena stood up slowly holding the dark chakram in one hand. She felt the need to trust Gabrielle, though she did not trust herself. Carefully she grabbed the light chakram again and this time it did not burn but lit up brightly. The light filled the room and could have blinded anyone who entered. Xena held the two chakrams and suddenly she felt a magnetic pull from the two weapons, bringing them closer together.

Her eyes widened and allowed the force to pull the two chakrams together. With a flash both chakrams were no longer two separate beings but now one –together. The appearance was far different though. It appeared to look like a Yin and Yang symbol than anything else.

Xena held the newly created chakram in her hands and Gabrielle stood admiring the shocked but pleased look on Xena's face.

Inside herself she felt like a different person, not one sided, but two sides combined together to create... _balance_.

"Xena?" the blonde called her friend's name. "that doesn't belong to you," she touched Xena's hand and Xena looked to her green eyes.

Xena felt a sense of completion within her but knew that this did not belong to her, at least not really. She stole it so therefore she didn't earn it. "I should return it then?" she questioned, almost feeling like a child who might lose her toy.

Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders, "if _you_ think it's the right thing to do." She casually teased the conqueror woman.

"Well, I went through all the troub –" she stopped as soon as she saw Gabrielle's disapproving look and she sighed. "I will return it."

Gabrielle nodded, approving of Xena's words. "If something isn't earned it doesn't really have any worth."

"Gabrielle, I can only handle so much of your philosophical bull –" she stopped herself. "your wisdom," she smiled, feeling that the phrase 'philosophical bullshit' was no longer relevant, as her friend's wise mind did not annoy her anymore.


	33. Chapter 33

_Chapter 31_

Gabrielle walked outside Xena's palace and untied Argo from her post. Xena followed her, stepping outside she saw the blonde horse next to Gabrielle. She smiled walking over to her horse that Solan gifted her.

She pet Argo's snout and grinned, "I thought I'd never see her again," she then frowned as she thought of Solan. She had asked him to come and stay with her when she was with Ares but he had refused and decided to go back to Amphipolis to be with Gabrielle instead. She would be lying if she said that didn't cut deep, but at the same time, she understood why he didn't want to be with her. Xena told herself she couldn't change, but Gabrielle slowly was able to show her that she could indeed change for the better.

Gabrielle sensed Xena's sadness by her body language and a certain expression on her face said it all. Also the lack of emotion gave it away that something was bothering her. She set her hand on Xena's shoulder gently.

She reassured her, "Solan will come around. He'll see that you've changed," she smiled at Xena trying to see if her words transferred successfully.

Xena patted Gabrielle's hand upon her shoulder with a close-lipped smile. "I hope so, Gabrielle." She then mounted Argo pulling the reins tightly. She looked down at her blonde and smirked lending her hand out to her. "You aren't going to walk the entire way this time."

Gabrielle grinned and took her hand gladly climbing aboard wrapping her arms around Xena's waist as they took off riding beyond the palace's gates.

The two arrived in a desert area of Greece. It would take them another three days to arrive in Italia and this would be just the beginning. Xena decided to stop and make camp as the temperature was dropping greatly. Wood was scarce in this area but along the way they picked up some broken sticks and twigs before they arrived in the wasteland.

Gabrielle curled up next to the fire wrapping her cream colored coat around her for warmth. Xena grabbed a wineskin from a bag strapped on Argo and sat across from Gabrielle around the fire. She also grabbed two wooden cups that were packed in the bag as well and poured some wine for the both of them.

She handed Gabrielle a cup of wine and she sniffed it, unsure if it was a wise idea to be drinking alcohol at the moment. Xena saw her apprehension and smiled taking a sip of her own wine. "It will keep you warm," she added slyly.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Gabrielle questioned with a teasing tone. Xena shook her head and drank the remaining wine in her cup, adding more. Gabrielle watched Xena down the wine like it was water and she arched an eyebrow. "Are _you_ trying to get drunk?" she grinned nervously.

Xena wiped her mouth with the backside of her hand and grinned at Gabrielle. "You know what Gabrielle? You ask too many questions." She swished the wine in her cup and looked at the dark liquid pursing her lips. "The gods gave us grapes to make wine so why don't we just enjoy it, am I right?" she winked.

Gabrielle couldn't argue with that and Xena had really amazing wines stashed in her fortress. Her palace gardens were lined with vineyards that stretched for miles. She continued to sip on her first cup of wine while Xena was on her third.

Xena crossed her legs staring at the fire and a thought came to her. She quirked her mouth to the side curiously. "So, how did it feel to hit me? I bet you've been dying to do that." She laughed at her own joke while Gabrielle remained silent.

She would be lying if she said it didn't feel satisfying to defeat Xena in combat in front of her own men no less but in the end she was just trying to prove a point.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you, Xena. I hope you know that," she said sincerely.

Xena's eyes glanced over at her blonde companion and smiled at her broken nose. "Sorry about that," she pointed to Gabrielle's nose. "You have a beautiful nose. Something else beautiful that I took from you," she frowned staring at the burning embers once again. She leaned back on her elbow and Gabrielle touched her nose unconsciously.

Gabrielle frowned. Wanting to get more out of Xena she set her cup of unfinished wine on the ground next to her foot. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Xena finished off her third cup of wine and sighed pouring another glass. Gabrielle watched her intently and then crawled over to sit next to Xena. She placed her hand over the cup preventing Xena from drinking anymore. Xena eyed her carefully and watched as she took the cup from her grasp, placing it behind her back.

The conqueror woman sighed deeply. "I took your family from you. Your home and your life. Why are you still here? I bought you for Zeus sake." She frowned sitting up uncrossing her legs.

Gabrielle asked, "why are _you_ still here?"

Xena looked at her friend confused and a bit baffled. She chuckled lightly. "To return the chakram of course why else?"

"That's not what I meant, Xena," Gabrielle shyly smiled.

Xena now understood what Gabrielle meant and she immediately stood up not wishing to continue the conversation any longer. She grabbed her sword that lay on a rock and walked off alone. Gabrielle stood and started to follow her. "Where are you going?" she inquired.

"I'm going for a walk," she said as she kept walking deeper into the desert by herself.

"I'll come with you –" Gabrielle instantly followed.

Xena turned around pointing the sword at Gabrielle's chest. "No! Stay here and keep watch," she said with firm eyes then turned to head onward. Gabrielle frowned folding her arms but did not disobey. Instead she stayed by the campfire, plopping down feeding the fire with one of their sticks they picked up along the way.

* * *

After a few minutes of silent walking Xena saw another campfire not too far from their campsite. Curiously she tread carefully taking a few steps closer. Although it was much more than just a campfire, it was a small army with many tents spread across the desert land. She grinned walking in sheathing her sword.

A few of the men stood up and immediately became defensive. Not knowing who she was they pointed their weapons towards her. She grinned holding her hands up.

"What's going on here?" she asked looking around at the various tents.

"That depends. Who's asking?" a general stepped forward and he grinned at Xena.

Xena returned the smile. "Xena is asking. Very odd to set up camp in a desert don't you think so?" many whispers surrounded her as they heard her name. They immediately knew who she was now.

The general nodded his head. "We answer to someone higher than you, Xena."

"Oh is that so? And who might that be? Zeus, the father of the Olympians himself?" she mocked.

He laughed and soon other men started laughing as well. Xena watched them all very carefully. Slowly her hand went to the chakram on her belt cautiously waiting for an attack. "No someone better than that. Ares," he grinned evilly.

Xena rolled her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me?" she announced releasing her grip on the chakram. "Let me guess, he promised you absolute power, ultimate gratification if you sacked a few villages, right?" she winked. The general's frown disappeared.

"Oh now I remember!" the general said aloud. "You're Ares' whore right?" he laughed and the others followed.

Xena gritted her teeth and unsheathed her sword and attacked the few men surrounding her, instantly knocking them off their feet. She was able to hold off more than twenty men at once and once she sliced the last one's throat she wiped the blood off her face with her hand. She grinned and came towards the general as he had fear growing in his eyes.

He began to run and she let out a cry flipping forward and kicked him the ground, landing face first. "We're not done with our little chat," she held his hair in her hand and grinned widely. She was so close to killing the boy young wannabe general she then thought of Gabrielle and their original mission. Frowning she released his head and his face dug into the sand. She got off the man and sheathed her sword walking off, waiting for the man to arise.

"Take your army and get out of here. If I see you again you won't have either one of your _heads_ , got it?" she smiled. She saw the young man get up nodding his head running off with the remaining of his men, which wasn't much. She then called out, "tell Ares if he has a problem he can contact his whore." She smirked as he kept running, probably ignoring her last request.

* * *

Xena returned to their campsite and saw Gabrielle writing on one of her scrolls. Gabrielle looked up to see a very bloody Xena and her hair wild.

"By the gods, Xena! What happened?" she asked standing up to look her over.

She waved off Gabrielle's concern and sat down, wiping the blood off her face with her hand. "Just ran into a small army of idiots following Ares' commands."

Gabrielle was immediately worried and she asked, fearing the answer Xena would give her. "And you killed them all...?"

Xena smiled and took out her sword, wiping the stained blood with her pant-leg. "No Gabrielle. I just scared them." A silent pause and she saw her friend's worrisome face. "I told them to leave and never come back," she added softly, cleaning her blade casually.

The conqueror then giggled a little, "oh but I did kill a couple of men."

Gabrielle's eyes widened feeling like she took a step backwards in the wrong direction.

"They came at me first. Self defense Gabrielle," she grinned slyly and continued cleaning her blade. "Whether you believe it or not, I do listen to your philosophical bullshit from time to time."

Gabrielle was relieved to hear that. She sat down next to Xena and had a smug smile. " _Really_?" she asked.

"From time to time," she continued cleaning her sword and then saw Gabrielle's smug smile. She shook her head then Gabrielle swayed towards her, knocking Xena off balance for a moment. Xena grimaced then smiled warmly.

"I don't know how someone so annoying could be considered a friend of mine," Xena added.

Gabrielle frowned and then asked curiously, "do you really think I'm _that_ annoying?"

Xena smiled glancing over at her friend's green eyes. "It's a joke, Gabrielle."

"You should really work on your humor."

* * *

A few days later Xena and Gabrielle had arrived at the place where the once two chakrams were held. Xena looked at the castle on the mountain and remembered exactly what happened here. She suddenly felt like she wanted to just get this over with and not deal with anymore chaos in her life. She touched the chakram on her belt once again, a bit reluctant to give it up, but at the same time, it had caused so many problems for her.

The two walked into the castle and Xena walked towards the chakram altar. She stared at the empty stone and pulled the chakram off her belt, staring at its beauty and craftsmanship. Suddenly she heard a very slow clap of hands behind her and she turned to see the other God of War, Kal standing there smiling at her and Gabrielle.

"The chakrams are balanced once again! Great job Gabrielle," he smiled at her. Xena eyed her blonde friend and eyes grew as she couldn't believe she had made a deal with this War God.

"This was your idea all along?" Xena asked Gabrielle in a quiet voice. She was quite in shock at her friend. She didn't think that she made a deal with a god to restore the balance of the chakrams, but thought she wanted to do the right thing, for the greater good.

Gabrielle shook her head, speechless. "I...Xena..." she frowned sadly.

"You...you made a deal with a God of War?!" Xena yelled out at Gabrielle, clasping the chakram tighter.

Gabrielle frowned and creased her brows together. "You made plenty of deals with Ares!" she spat back, a little fed up of Xena's constant back and forth interchangeable mood swings.

"And look where that has gotten me!" Xena clenched her teeth. She now focused her attention on Kal who seemed to be enjoying this little banter. "so what's the catch? Gabrielle gets your precious chakram back in one piece and then what? She serves you for an eternity?" she grinned, rising the chakram higher in the air ready to strike if necessary.

Kal chuckled at Xena's sudden excitement and yet was enthralled at her rage. "Unlike Ares, I play by the rules. Now hand over the chakram. It belongs to me, it's rightful owner," he held out his hand and Xena pulled away taking a step back.

She grinned fiercely. "And what if I don't want to? I possess both chakrams, light and dark. What does that say about your purity and darkness crap now?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows in response.

"Xena what are you doing?" Gabrielle called out, looking at the two staring each other down.

Xena focused her energy and then pulled the chakram apart. The two parts were separated now and she grinned and a marvelous smile. At a chance she threw the divided chakram across the room and it sliced through Kal with ease and the weapon returned back to her in one piece. Xena's eyes widened and she saw Kal's inner light begin to dim and he coughed heavily, trying to gain back any life that he had left.

Soon he had disappeared within a flash. Gone from existence. Gabrielle stared at the floor where Kal was kneeling down just a moment ago. She then averted her gaze to Xena and frowned. "What did you just do?!" she yelled and came to Xena, staring at her intently in her glacial eyes.

Xena put the chakram back on her belt and stared down at Gabrielle. "Do you really think I was going to hand this over to a god?" she stared at the stone altar again. "Nobody should have that kind of power."

She started walking off and Gabrielle groaned. "And so what? You deserve that kind of power?" she called out stopping Xena in her tracks.

The raven haired woman turned to her friend. "No, but I would not hand it over to a god, especially a God of War."

"You just killed a god," she said blatantly.

Xena stood at the exit and shook her head. "You made a deal with one! Lesson one, Gabrielle, never make deals with gods. They'll betray you in the end." She made her way down the steps to go back to Argo waiting in the forest.

Gabrielle caught up to Xena who was now organizing the bags arranged on Argo's back. She forcefully pulled Xena to face her. "I agreed with Kal because I wanted to protect you from your dark side!"

Xena frowned, "and so I killed him!" she sighed, "...to protect you." She said softly. Gabrielle remained silent. She mounted Argo and lend her hand to Gabrielle. "You have much to learn."

Gabrielle climbed on Argo and they strode off back to Athens. "You have to teach me then," Gabrielle said.

Xena smiled, "teach you what?"

"Everything you know."

* * *

_Six Months Later_

Xena had decided to restructure her entire empire more than she agreed to before. She opened up her fortress and had made it open to the public as a university, according to Gabrielle, it was the best thing to do. Her people still struggled with jobs and she realized that nobody was going to take her seriously anymore as a ruler if she did not treat them right. She found suitable teachers from various territories in her empire and invited them to her palace to teach children history, arithmetic, math, science and even philosophy. She had shied away from teaching children the ways of sword, prohibiting it.

It took about three months before the Athenians were able to accept Xena's new proclamations and changes within the empire. She had redone the entire palace to be suited for scholastic purposes only. She also allowed for all the vacant rooms to be filled with traveling children who wished to come and learn in Athens for the time being.

Xena put Gabrielle in charge of some penmanship classes when she wasn't busy with other duties that she assigned her to do. Meanwhile Xena had kept her room away from prying eyes but her office remained open so long as she was not busy with other things. She still had an empire to run and sometimes that called for potential wars, wished Gabrielle advised her to stay away from. She resorted to moving her training facilities elsewhere and far away from her palace. Occasionally she'd go to the training grounds to observe but assured that she would not put her soldiers against each other in death matches for her pure enjoyment. She even hired new generals as the others were too corrupt. Instead of beheading them or torturing them she exiled them to Africa to live and never return to Greece.

Xena had been spent the last six months writing to Solan in hopes that she'd receive a letter back but with her luck, that wasn't going to happen any time soon. She sent at least two letters month to Solan but he seemed to be ignoring her, which she felt that was fair considering the way he was treated because of her. Ares had gotten involved between them and her own anger resulted in the silent treatment. Remaining persistent she kept writing even if he would not reply to her.

Today, Xena was writing another letter to her council. Another suggestion from Gabrielle, of course. She thought it'd be wise to have a council similar to the Roman's because they dealt with political matters on a daily basis since a ruler was not going to have time to deal with such things.

She groaned and called out, "Gabrielle!" throwing the quill aside and Gabrielle ran into her office with baited breath. She had been running around the majority of the morning organizing the library.

"What is it?" she rushed to Xena's desk and saw she was trying to write something down.

Xena waved the parchment in front of Gabrielle. "Would you write this for me? You're the better writer," she smirked.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes, "you asked me to come in here for _that_?" Xena had pleading eyes and Gabrielle relented and sat down in Xena's chair, grabbing a fresh parchment dipping the quill in the ink pad. Xena smiled patting her blonde friend on the back lightly, walking off pacing in front of her desk, waiting until Gabrielle finished the document.

A few minutes later Gabrielle blew on the parchment and handed it over to Xena. She took it and looked it over quickly. "Thank you Gabrielle. I can always count on you."

Gabrielle nodded sighing audibly. She head for the exit to go tend to the library once more. Before she left she turned around, "oh I forgot to tell you. You have a visitor." She smiled. Xena cocked her head to the side and set the document on her desk watching Gabrielle walk down the hallway back to the library.

Xena walked through the halls, her red silk cloak trailing behind her. She looked through all the archways and saw her visitor leaning against a large marble column throwing a few stones out into the gardens. She took a few steps forward and recognized the silhouette. She smiled instantly coming towards him.

"Solan?" she called out standing about ten feet away from him. He recognized her voice and turned around slowly, grinning softly at her. He took a few steps closer to her and she stared into his dark eyes. Without another moment passing she embraced him warmly. At first he didn't respond and then slowly wrapped his arms around her. Xena felt her body relax and then pulled from the embrace.

"You never responded to my letters," she said solemnly.

Solan looked at her with confusion. "I never got any letters." He admitted honestly.

Xena shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "I sent you two letters a month in hopes that..that you would answer me –forgive me," she added. She looked into his eyes and saw that he knew that she was being sincere for once. "Please forgive me, Solan."

She grabbed a hold of his hands, gripping tightly. He smiled warmly at his mother. "I forgive you mother."

Xena felt relieved and then Solan stopped her. "On one condition." She widened her eyes, creasing her eyebrows with worry.

"What's that?" she said with a knot in her throat, expecting the worse.

"Can I study in Athens? I mean, can I study here?" he looked around at her fortress, completely redone. Xena grinned, almost feeling like she had the right to laugh at such innocence. She hugged him once more, shocking him, but felt his warmth against her once more.

Xena guided him through the halls, looking at each classroom filled with small children. Solan looked at each room with awe. She stood very close to him making sure she wouldn't lose sight of him again. "What about Octavius? Rome?"

Solan looked to his mother and smiled. "He knows. I told him I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I chose to come here on my own."

Xena nodded, smiling, not sure that she needed to add anymore of her thoughts. She just was glad that he was here, standing here, walking with her around her school. He looked to her with a puzzled face. "Where's Gabrielle? I miss her," he looked around to see if she'd appear somewhere.

She guided him towards the end of the hall. "She's in the library. Organizing," she rolled her eyes.

He blinked at her and grinned widely. "You have a library?" he hastily made his way to the end of the hall eager to see what was stored in there. Xena followed behind at a slow pace.

"Gabrielle! This is a great library!" Solan was heard from a distance and a smile came to Xena's lips as she continued down the hall.

A rush of energy came through Xena's body halting her in her step. Her eyes surveyed the area and she felt as if something passed right through her. Placing a hand over her chest she felt suspicious but did not sense anything malicious present.

Gabrielle came to join Xena in the hallway, "Xena, why don't you come and look at the library?" she placed a hand on her arm.

Xena still felt a bit out of place and her friend definitely noticed. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

She responded with a smile, "nothing. Show me the library, would you?" she said and Gabrielle went ahead of her trailing back into the scroll filled room. Before entering Xena looked around but saw nothing following her. She creased her eyebrows but then came into the library and saw Solan reading and glancing at all of the scrolls.

"Have you read some of these mother? We don't have these kinds of records in Rome."

Xena grinned, "oh really?"

**AN: not the epilogue! hope this will move things forward...or not? ;) thanks for the reviewing and reading.**


	34. Chapter 34

**AN: so many surprises so little time. Enjoy and thank you for reading and giving feedback ;)**

_Chapter 32_

After Solan came to Athens to meet with Xena she had allowed him to stay in her palace to learn anything he desired. She was pleased that he no longer had a passion for the sword when they met earlier in the year. She had known Solan all his life through letters and only a few months in person. Gabrielle had been with her for almost a year now and things between them weren't always great, but at least they were better, far better than ever. Xena put Gabrielle in charge of the library as she realized her true passion was writing, though she knew she was a great fighter, that much was obvious, but writing was her true passion. Not to mention that Xena still used Gabrielle as a scribe every now and then mostly because writing letters was not really her thing and her spelling was quite atrocious.

Two weeks had gone by without Xena even realizing that Solan spent most of time reading, writing and reciting with Gabrielle most the time. She was glad that he was able to spend his time with Gabrielle. He could learn much from her, she knew that. Xena had contemplated that she was no longer the same person she had always been, though she had her doubts. Her darkness lingered there like an illness waiting to be awoken within her. She wouldn't let that happen or Gabrielle might kill her internally. No matter what, Xena knew that the sword was intertwined with her, but she knew that life was much more than living up to the will of the sword. Life was more important than death –her brothers came to her mind when she thought of death. She hadn't spent a lot of time with Lyceus since he had died so young because of her. Toris had left a long time ago and also died because of her. This weighed heavily on Xena every day but she promised herself not to revert back to her old ways for the sake of her sanity and her soul.

She slowly realized that her worst enemy was her memory and Ares had no problem reminding her of that, but since her little exertion to the chakram altar, Ares was nowhere to be found. She was sure that he had found a new play thing to lure in. Perhaps she was old news to him, she thought. Then again, she was never old news to Ares, he always found some way back into her life, but this time may be different, she could only hope. She was still an empress after all, but this time around she would not be known as a tyrant any longer. Her people had managed to gain some of her trust back, but she really enjoyed having her palace being turned into a place of learning, thanks to Gabrielle. A smile always came to Xena when she thought of Gabrielle. They had philosophical differences but she allowed her to take control in this particular area. She was skilled in many areas just as Xena was, but she had skills that Xena could never master –skills of loving, dreaming, thinking critically through different perspectives –Xena could never master those skills, but she was willing to learn and to try. Trying was the most important thing in her life right now –to be a better person for herself and for everyone else.

Even though Xena had her doubts of returning to old self, she wasn't going to allow that to happen. Though she still had an army in her hands that needed to be trained and fed. She explained this to Gabrielle and didn't quite agree with her but soon relented as Xena went on to elaborate that she still controlled a lot of land and ruled in an empire. She wouldn't allow her empire to fall due to small attacks that could devastate her reputation. She needed to keep her men working constantly, never letting up.

All the new changes that occurred in her empire, Xena found that her time in her office became less and less. She spent more time observing than anything else. She was not necessarily bored, but she often felt restless, wanting to practice with her sword from time to time. Xena made her way to the training grounds on a regular basis not only to oversee her men but to also train with the best of the best in her army. She had to keep herself trained and on her toes constantly. When she wasn't training or observing inside the palace she kept herself busy by staying in her room, sharpening blades or her latest favorite thing to do –take rests in the middle of the day. This was something she was never capable of doing, because her mind was either too busy or some chaotic disaster happened within her empire or outside of it.

Xena used to dread sleep but now she found herself at peace and was able to sleep soundly not fearing anything that could go wrong. It never occurred to her that sleep was important but now that the ways of her empire had changed and things had gone smoothly for half a year, she realized that sleep was indeed her second best friend, next to Gabrielle of course.

Today was one of those days. It was raining fiercely outside and Xena allowed her men to take a day off, not allowing anyone to fall ill because of the weather. It had been raining for three days straight now and she had finished all of her duties within her office. Deciding it best to take a rest she locked herself away in her room with a few lit candles on each side of her bed. The curtains swayed against the rainy cool breeze traveling into her bedroom. Finding slept inevitable that's exactly what she did. Wrapped in a bright red robe she curled up in her bed, resting her head on a pillow, hair sprawled out and uncovered by her blankets.

It did not take long for her to fall into a deep sleep and her mouth was slightly agape, breathing out slowly. Gabrielle came into Xena's room unannounced and saw she was sleeping soundly. Smiling she put a letter on her bedside table hoping that she'd see it when she awoke. Silently she tip toed out of her room, closing the door as quietly as she could. She would come back within a couple of hours to see Xena's reaction to the letter. It was sent to the palace earlier in the day but she just got around to receiving it and delivering it to Xena, only to find her slumbering.

A surge of energy went through Xena's body and she creased her eyebrows, curling her legs closer to her, wrapping her arms around her body for warmth. Still not awakening she closed her mouth and stirred trying to find a comfortable position again. As soon as she found a happy medium she settled into her bed, relaxing her body.

A few moments of relaxation came to a halt when Xena felt a hand on her cheek and her eyes burst wide open and she grabbed the hand –a small hand. She creased her eyebrows and looked at the hand, it was definitely a hand of a child one third the size of her adult hands. Her eyes paused gazing at the hand and she let go of the small wrist, looking down she saw someone she'd never she'd see again, at least not in this life time.

Xena's mouth gaped and she picked up the little one by her waist and lifted her up onto her bed. She touched the girl's brunette tendrils that framed her small face and blue eyes. Smiling she touched the girl's shoulders gently.

"Eve, what...what are you doing here?" Xena looked around and then looked to the contempt girl in front of her. "How did you get here?" she whispered, leaning down to eye level with her.

The four year old shrugged her tiny shoulders and then caught glimpse of the wooden doll she once possessed. She smiled and crawled across Xena's large bed to retrieve it. Xena had her eyes focused on Eve the entire time. Once she held the doll in her arms she smiled and scooted over to get closer to Eve.

"I have been looking for this," Eve glanced at the doll and looked to her mother who seemed to be at a loss for words. Eve frowned at Xena and touched her hand, examining it carefully. Xena shook her head to get out of her daze and saw Eve looking over her hand or more like inspecting it.

"What are you doing?" Xena smiled.

Eve continued to have a perplexed look upon her face. She then ran her fingers through Xena's hair. She quirked her mouth to the side and hummed to herself. "You look different," she admitted.

Xena touched her hair and then it finally came to her. "Oh you mean my hair?" she received a small nod from little Eve. "I had to cut it." she paused looking at Eve picking at the wooden doll once more and she frowned. "Eve?" she asked.

The little girl looked up, halting her fixation on the doll. "How did you get here?" Xena was beginning to wonder if she was still dreaming but she didn't feel like she was dreaming anymore. She looked to the large windows that were still open and the storm was still present. She quickly got up and closed the windows and curtains to prevent any rain coming into her room more than it already had.

"So Eve –" Xena turned and saw Eve wasn't on her bed anymore. She looked around and began pacing around the room until she saw Eve standing by her vanity opening drawers and picking things out of it like her hairbrush, hair roaches, her oil bottles and lipsticks. Xena came behind her and closed the drawers hastily. Eve was alarmed and looked up to Xena as she still held the doll in her arms.

Xena couldn't help but smile as she couldn't really be mad at a child, especially if the child is hers...was hers. She sighed and picked up the four year old in her arms and sat her down on the bed once again. Kneeling down she held Eve's small hands in hers and exhaled slowly.

"Now Eve. I need to know how you got here. Can you tell me that?" she coaxed her daughter with a gentle voice trying to be patient.

Eve sighed quietly and she frowned. "I don't remember," she shrugged.

Xena closed her eyes and sighed heavily trying to find out how she got here and why. Her peaceful sleep had been interrupted not by something disastrous but something confusing yet enlightening as well. Her mind went immediately to Ares and suddenly her blood began to boil. Eve saw her mother's eyes widen and looking very upset at something.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked bluntly.

Xena snapped her head to look at Eve and her expression softened. She grinned and touched the girl's head, "no of course not." She stood and started pacing back and forth with her arms crossed trying to figure this out silently talking to herself. Eve arched her brow and watched Xena making a hole into the floor. She then stopped and knelt down to Eve and grabbed her hand walking to the door a little too fast to keep up.

She opened the door looking both ways making sure nobody was in the hallway. As soon as the coast was clear she and Eve stepped into the hallway and she began walking quickly, a little too quickly for Eve and she fell onto the floor. Xena stopped and saw Eve on her knees. The child's eyes swelled with imminent tears and Xena sighed, picking her up. She wiped Eve's cheeks with her thumb gently. She pointed her finger in the girl's face sternly. "No crying." Eve stopped and Xena smiled then continued walking through the long hallway to find Gabrielle.

She walked into Gabrielle's room and closed the door. She saw she was writing on one of her scrolls. Gabrielle looked up and raised her eyebrows halting her writing immediately. She stood up and saw Xena carrying a small girl on her hip.

"Xena...?" Gabrielle stepped closer utterly confused.

Eve cuddled her face into Xena's chest and Xena smiled nervously. "I have a problem."

"I'll say," Gabrielle folded her arms. Xena put Eve down on the floor and she stayed behind her leg, hugging it tightly. She sighed and knelt down close to Eve.

"Can you go over there and play with your doll," Xena grabbed one of Gabrielle's scrolls and saw the look of shock and apprehension on Gabrielle's face. "Here go draw or something," she grinned. Eve took the parchment and head for Gabrielle's desk, casually sitting down and doing as she was told.

Gabrielle frowned and looked to the small girl sitting in her chair. "Who is that and I was working on something you know," she lamented.

Xena didn't want to hear anything Gabrielle was saying. She grabbed her and took her to the side out of earshot for Eve to hear. "That's Eve, my daughter I told you about," she said shyly. Gabrielle blinked and stared at Eve, drawing with her quill, bending the feather more than she liked. She sighed at Xena and rubbed her temples. "I don't know how she got here or why. I tried to ask her but she said she doesn't remember. What do I do Gabrielle?" her eyes pleaded with mercy.

"You think it was Ares?" Gabrielle whispered and her eyes averted to Eve once again. She saw the same eyes that she shared with Xena as well as her dark hair and skin complexion. "she looks just like you."

Xena groaned, "Focus Gabrielle!" she hit her friend in her arm and Gabrielle winced and hit Xena back. The warrior woman gasped and frowned, folding her arms staring at Eve once again enjoying herself.

Gabrielle made her way over to Eve and knelt down looking at her drawing, "wow that's really good," she smiled. Eve grinned in return and kept drawing without responding. "Do you like drawing a lot?" Xena observed her friend's behavior with awe and cocked her head to the side watching their little exchange. Eve nodded her nod and kept drawing as Gabrielle watched. Her eyes met Xena's and saw she was completely lost and had no idea what to do. She usually had a plan but this time she didn't have any plans.

She waltzed over to her brunette friend and nudged her in the arm. "She's really sweet, like you," she smugly beamed. Xena rolled her eyes and walked over to Eve observing her drawing. It was quite good for someone her age, simple but good enough.

"Eve, did a man with dark hair come to see you?" she began immediately with interrogation and Gabrielle frowned.

Eve frowned as well, looking into her mother's blue eyes. She shook her head, "no not a man," she answered with complete honesty. Xena was relieved to hear that so it meant that Ares did not contact her and send her here. "It was a woman," Eve continued. Xena frowned, arching her brow looking to Gabrielle.

"Why didn't you tell me that when I asked you before?" Xena questioned.

Eve stopped drawing and felt a bit embarrassed. "I forgot," she said in a soft tone. Xena sighed and stood up from her kneeling position. She came next to Gabrielle, folding her arms watching Eve continue drawing keeping herself busy and also completely oblivious.

"What am I going to do with her? She can't stay here," Xena said.

Gabrielle frowned and gestured to her friend's young daughter, "why not? She seems happy and she clearly likes you a lot."

Xena shook her head and groaned at the entirety of the situation. "Gabrielle!" she hissed. "I don't...she's not supposed to be here," she rubbed her neck feeling very agitated.

Eve got up from the chair and tugged on Xena's robe handing her the parchment on which she drew on. Xena's eyes softened and she took the parchment seeing the finished project. It was a flower with Xena's name and a sword underneath it. She smiled at Eve, "thank you it's very nice."

The four year old was pretty satisfied with her mother's reaction and then let her curiosity take over. She began roaming around Gabrielle's room just as she did in Xena's room, opening drawers and examining everything inside. Gabrielle saw her taking out a bunch of scrolls and cringed as she had organized those for over a week and now that was clearly being destroyed. All of her hard work. She groaned inwardly and Xena smirked at her friend's slight irritation.

"Did you read the letter I put beside your bed?" Gabrielle said through pursed lips watching Eve take out all her scrolls. She ran over and closed the drawer. "Hey..." she grinned. "Why don't I read something to you?" Eve smiled and sat on Gabrielle's bed waiting. Xena frowned and then quietly left Gabrielle to act as babysitter while she went to her room to read the unopened letter.

* * *

Xena grabbed the letter ripping open the seal, reading silently to herself. Her eyes widened at this and held the letter close to her, folding it back up. Hastily going over to the fireplace in her room she burned the letter. It appeared that this letter was at least a week old and it had just reached her. With that news she ran down the stairs passing Gabrielle's room and went to the entrance of her palace, walking through classes. Many children watched her as she marched through the marble halls.

She threw the wooden doors open and saw a line of men waiting in front of the doors, masked with black scarves around the lower half of their faces. She frowned and stepped forward as the leader stepped down off his black stallion.

He unwrapped his scarf and smiled smugly at Xena's presence in front of him. She waved her hand at her guards and they backed off the armed men on horses. "What are you doing here Borias?" she asked pulling him aside.

"Just strolling through. You have changed much since we had last met..." he observed the palace and it was not as ominous as it once was. Xena rolled her eyes and looked to the armed men behind him.

"What's with the cryptic letter you sent me and why do you have men following you?" she whispered.

Borias grinned and tightened his gauntlets. "You know how I like to conduct business Xena," he slyly said but immediately saw the color in Xena's eyes change. "I got Phraates to sign a contract with me to swear his allegiance to your empire once again."

Xena didn't seem the least bit satisfied with that news. "Not interested. He's dead to me. I don't need weaklings like him supporting my empire, Borias," she smirked.

"Not even if I told you that Egypt is up for grabs?" Borias enticed Xena. Her eyes narrowed and now she seemed interested but still didn't want to go to war with anyone especially right now.

"Mother!" Solan called out and Xena flinched at that. Borias' eyes widened as he saw Solan at the entrance of her palace. He looked to Xena and saw anger in her eyes and she shied away.

" _What_?" she called out, not daring to look at Borias' shocked face.

Solan saw a dark haired man staring at him and he arched a brow then focused back on his mother. "Um..Gabrielle needs you for something. She –she told me to tell you," he said and saw the man's eyes locked him. He soon disappeared back into the palace to go back to the library, his second favorite place to be at the moment.

Xena looked at Borias' face and he blinked at her. "He lives here with... _you_?" his voice signaled hurt and a bit of betrayal. She sighed and rubbed her forehead vigorously, feeling anger rising within her. Too much going on at once was beginning to take a toll on her.

"He just got here," she admitted shyly and rubbed her neck, feeling like a bunch of insects had invaded her body at the moment. She groaned lowly, "I have to go deal with something important." She started walking off until Borias' words halted her.

"When were you going to tell me?" he called out but received no answer as Xena kept walking into the palace to deal with Gabrielle and whatever problem has happened now.

* * *

Xena entered Gabrielle's room and saw Eve trying to read one of her scrolls, although it wasn't working out too well. She didn't know how to read anything very well. Xena closed the door abruptly and smiled at Eve as she alarmed the young girl. Gabrielle touched Xena's arm and saw her sweating on her forehead a bit.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Xena waved her hand dismissively. "What's the problem here?" she gestured to Eve still sitting on her bed casually looking at the scrolls.

Gabrielle wanted to know more of what Xena was thinking at the moment but figured that could wait. Must have been whatever was in that letter that disturbed her friend greatly. She shook her head trying to focus and whispered to Xena. "I was able to get something out of Eve," she looked back at the four year old completely contempt with her task of trying to read for the first time. "She said something about a woman with blonde hair coming to see her." Xena frowned at this perplexed idea of a woman coming to see her.

"That really narrows it down," Xena said sarcastically and scratched her head nervously. She walked over to Eve and took the parchment from her setting it aside and knelt down touching the girl's knees gently. "Eve, can you do something for me?" the girl nodded in response. Xena smiled, "good girl. Did this woman say anything to you at all? The woman that came to see you..." she pried as best as she could and saw Eve's little mind turning as she sat and waited.

After several long moments of silence Xena felt her frustration coming to rise. "Eve...this is very important. I want you to remember as best as you can, alright? Can you do that for me?" she egged on her daughter and Eve sighed trying to remember.

Eve exhaled and looked at her mother's stern face. "well," she tapped her chin pensively, "she said I can see whoever I want to...so I chose to see you," she beamed. Xena sighed wearingly and gently squeezed her daughter's small shoulders.

"Anything else?" she raised her brows asserting herself making sure that Eve remembered every last thing about this exchange she had with this woman.

Eve nodded, "she said I will see you again. Don't know when..." she shrugged. Xena stood up groaning and threw her hands in the air.

"For the love of Zeus!" Xena exclaimed.

Eve smiled and shook her head, "not Zeus! Aphrodite!" Xena then stopped and turned to face her daughter.

"Did she say Aphrodite?" Gabrielle asked with a bit of mirth in her eyes. More than curious she wanted to giggle at Xena's shocked face. Ares' sister she would have never guessed, but why her and why send Eve here if wasn't supposed to be permanent?

A knock came to the door and Xena growled, "if it's not one thing it's ano–" she swung open the door and saw Solan standing there with shocked wide eyes staring at his mother. Xena sighed and apologized for her sudden outburst. She stepped outside the room and closed the door smiling.

"Yes Solan?" she prompted and Solan blinked still a bit taken aback by the rise of anger in his mother's voice.

"Um...that man downstairs...he's inside and wants to see you. He told me to get you," he said and Xena sighed closing her eyes trying to juggle too many things at once. "Is this a bad time?" he asked.

" _When is it not_ ," she mumbled and Solan arched a brow.

"What?" he responded and she shook her head and went downstairs to see Borias. She glided down the steps and saw Borias scanning the area and many children looked their way, though their teachers tried to keep them as focused as possible.

She turned to Solan, "leave us," she announced and Solan gladly left feeling the tension rising between the two. Xena took her last step off the stairs and faced Borias and he equally challenged in her eyes, frowning while she remained stoic.

"you didn't tell our son he has a father?" Borias said with no hesitation.

"Of course I did!" she snapped back and many eyes went to their direction so she quieted herself and pulled him aside behind the staircase. "What was I supposed to do? I had not seen Solan in six months and he appears here. Do I let him escape my arms once again?" she said softly and Borias looked away.

"after Egypt I didn't know where you went and by the way you took one of my ships," she folded her arms and Borias had a slight smirk. "I couldn't refuse him to come stay here. I have missed too many years of his life. I couldn't refuse him." She looked into his dark eyes which mirrored Solan's.

Borias folded his arms and had nothing to say. He had actually watched Solan grow up somewhat but from a distance and was never able to tell him that he was his father, yet here is Xena, Solan's mother, allowing him to stay in her palace and he seemed pretty content about it as well.

He sighed, "he deserves to be with you," he admitted quietly.

Xena smiled softly and sighed as well. "I wish things had been different between us back then. I should have gone with you instead of going astray down a horrible..path," she frowned at her own self demise.

Borias smiled, "you shouldn't reminiscence in the past Xena," he turned and left the quiet area and wrapped his scarf around his face once again. Xena, confused, followed him outside.

"Where are you going?" she asked a bit disappointed he wasn't going to stay, at least to talk to Solan.

He mounted his horse and smiled at her, "another time Xena," he and his men strode off beyond her palace gates leaving her puzzled with too many emotions to handle at the moment.

* * *

A few hours later Gabrielle managed to get Eve to sleep in Xena's bed instead of her own. She had ruined most of her space with her curiosity. Xena sat in her room watching Eve sleep soundly in her large bed, it almost swallowed her tiny body. She sipped the wine from her glass and kept her eyes focused on Eve almost in a trance. Gabrielle slipped into Xena's bedroom and saw her drinking wine by herself watching Eve.

Gabrielle set her hand on her shoulder, "how are you doing?"

Xena shook her head, "fine I guess," she saw Eve stir in her sleep and she scooted closer off the chair to see if she had awoken from their conversation.

"Do you think Aphrodite is going to let Eve stay with you?" Gabrielle whispered making sure not to wake the girl.

"I don't know," Xena said and set down the half filled wine glass and walked over to her bed, laying down beside her, leaning against her elbow watching the girl sleep peacefully.

Gabrielle sat down and watched as Xena soon fell asleep. She was feeling tired herself as well and couldn't help falling asleep in the chair, lolling her head to her shoulder.

Xena woke up groggily and her arm felt the empty spot next to her and Eve was no longer with her. She hastily looked underneath the bed then went into the bathroom to check if she was there, but found nothing. She jolted Gabrielle awake. "She's gone, Gabrielle!" she shook her head and Gabrielle nearly fell over in the chair, but stood up and went to her room to see if she was there.

A few minutes of running around Xena and Gabrielle met in the hallway with no news of Eve. Everyone was probably still asleep as the morning had yet to come and it was still raining. Xena felt a sting of pain hit her and she clenched her abdomen, doubling over on the floor onto her knees.

Gabrielle's eyes grew and knelt down trying to figure out what was wrong with her friend, but she only winced in pain, nothing more. Xena suddenly hit the floor and passed out. Gabrielle pushed her friend's body over onto her back and tapped her cheeks lightly.

"Xena?" she called out her name but received no response. She slapped her face and Xena still laid there unconscious.


	35. Chapter 35

**AN: Warning, some sensitive subjects in this chapter and a much needed guest has finally arrived to 'save the day'. Fast update, because why not? Enjoy everyone ;)**

_Chapter 33_

Gabrielle paced back and forth in front of Xena's body still lying in the middle of the hallway. She didn't know what to do or what was wrong with her friend. She began biting her fingernail anxiously and started to wonder if someone were to come up here and see Xena like this. What would they do, what would they think? Would they think it's my fault? She shook her head getting that thought out of her mind.

"Okay Gabrielle think, think," she tapped her chin and circled Xena's body careful not to touch her in any way. It had been several minutes now and she couldn't just leave her out here. She eyed Xena's bedroom door, slightly ajar and went to open the door fully, scanning the area to see if Eve had shown up but there was nobody there except her pet spider Zoe. Gabrielle cringed at the animal, she never liked spiders and often wondered why Xena kept that weird thing in her room like a cat.

She went back to her unconscious friend and took in a deep breath, shaking her hands and readying herself for what she was about to do. _You can do this Gabrielle_. She bent down and straightened Xena's body out and folded her arms to her chest. She exhaled graciously and closed her eyes to take a moment to relax herself. She picked up Xena by her ankles and started dragging her across the marble hall flooring slowly but surely. Grunting she was beginning to think this wasn't a good idea. Xena was quite a tall woman and she was definitely heavier than she looked, not to mention she was basically dead weight at the moment. She wouldn't dare ask for help as that would draw too much attention. Gabrielle was sure that Racha was going to come in her bedroom to deliver towels like she did every morning.

Glancing behind her she saw the skies were still dark. _Good I still have time_. Struggling some more Gabrielle pulled Xena's body into her room finally. She set her friend's legs on the floor and huffed. She always thought herself pretty strong but this was pretty difficult.

After a few more pulls she finally got Xena next to her bed. She stood up stretching her back and then didn't think about getting Xena on her bed. Groaning she picked up Xena's upper body, throwing her over her shoulder, letting her friend's weight lean against her. Gabrielle grunted and pulled Xena up and gently set her on the bed, grabbing her legs and slid them on top of the sheets. She then straightened Xena's body out on the bed, lying on her back. She glanced at her friend and looked as if she were in a deep sleep.

Gabrielle crawled on top of the bed, touching the warrior's cheek softly and smiled softly, hoping that she'd awake soon. Sighing she sat back and would wait until that happened. "What happened back there Xena?" she said aloud, completely aware that she wasn't able to hear her. Her fingers grazed Xena's silk robe and then thought of something that happened earlier.

She loosened the sash around Xena's waist and exposed her abdomen, checking for any lesions or marks. Her fingers glided on her skin softly and faintly saw something in the flickering candle light. Taking a closer look she grabbed a candle and saw a scar near Xena's navel. All the times she had seen Xena undress in front of her she hadn't taken notice. Though her eyes always shied away from Xena's nude flesh, she curiously touched the faint scar, creasing her eyebrows. Covering her friend back up she set the candle down on the bedside table and waited, waited a long while.

* * *

Xena's eyes fluttered open and looked at her surroundings. She was in her bed and the room was still dark, likely from the rain. She groaned, clutching her midsection. It wasn't a sting, but a slight soreness possibly. That was the only way she could describe the aching pain. She tried to sit up carefully and grunted, alerting Gabrielle who sat at her table, reading.

Gabrielle smiled and ran over to the bed, gently pushing Xena back down onto her pillow. "Hey, you're finally awake," she touched her friend's cheek warmly.

Xena's chest rose and fell heavily and she saw the concern in Gabrielle's eyes. "How long have I been here?" her eyes roamed her own room, feeling as if she were seeing it the first time.

"A couple of hours," Gabrielle said with relief. She was glad to see Xena finally awake. She was beginning to think she had fallen into some eternal dreamscape or something of the sort. Xena jerked her body trying to sit up and her hand went to her stomach and she winced. Gabrielle set her hand on top of friend's, reassuring her to stay still.

"Would you just stay put for once?" Gabrielle sternly said and Xena stopped trying to move and obeyed her blonde friend, frowning like a child almost. She stood up and went to fetch a glass of water for Xena. Xena began shaking her foot back and forth impatiently. She desired to get up and find out what had happened to Eve. Staying here was not in her best interests right now. Gabrielle returned with some water and forced it in front of her. "Drink this," she pushed.

Xena slowly took the glass and downed the water, handing the empty cup back to her friend. She sighed and sat up cautiously, leaning against the headboard of her bed. "You don't have to baby me you know," she half smiled, a bit embarrassed that she was the one being taken care of.

Gabrielle grinned, "I'm not babying you. I'm helping you, Xena. Can you just accept my help?" she had hope in her voice. Xena sighed, not wishing to continue this charade of who was going to win this argument because she knew she'd lose, especially if Gabrielle was acting as her caretaker.

"Did you happen to find Eve?" Xena asked after a few silent moments passed. Gabrielle shook her head, feeding into her friend's disappointment.

Gabrielle quirked her mouth to the side and then felt a bit of curiosity rise inside her. She eyed Xena as she gently rubbed her abdomen, obviously still feeling that aching pain surging through her. It hurt her to see her friend uncomfortable but she couldn't really do too much to ease her pain.

"Xena?" she grabbed her attention from her friend. She pointed to her midsection and shyly asked, "what's that scar from?" Xena felt tense and she fidgeted in her bed, feeling a lore of emotions overcome her body once again. She had tried to put that in the back of her mind, but alas she couldn't do it. It haunted her every day, even when she tried her best to stop thinking about it, it always came back to her mind. Sometimes she thought about it during the worst times, like when she was in a heated argument or a battle or simply trying to sleep. She thought that she had put that to rest but since Gabrielle asked, those feelings and thoughts hit her like a tidal wave unexpectedly.

Gabrielle sensed from the silence of her friend that shouldn't have pried into her business. "I'm sorry, I should not have asked about it," she smiled nervously and waved her hand trying to forget this sudden redness that was rather apparent in her cheeks.

Xena gently reached for Gabrielle's hand, grabbing it tightly. Smiling she added, "we are friends Gabrielle. It's alright," she sighed heavily, not sure if she was ready to tell this story. She hadn't told this story out loud to anybody except herself. The blonde felt a bit relieved at Xena's reaction and tightened her grip to signal that she would be supportive no matter what.

"When I was seventeen and seeing Petracles during my engagement with Maphias I...became pregnant," she felt her body turn cold like a lizard. She continued as much as she didn't want to. "I had known for awhile even after I decided to run off with Petracles and join his gang of idiots," she smirked. Gabrielle chuckled at Xena's subtle jest.

"I thought that if I kept it a secret long enough that the outcome wouldn't matter and life would go on..." her eyes stared off into the distance remembering every second of those times so long ago.

* * *

Xena paced silently in Petracles' tent awaiting for his arrival. He told her that he was scouting with some of his men but that was hours ago and she was sure that he would have returned by now. Becoming more nervous by the minute she began to think if it'd be best to just run and never come back. Her other option was to stay and tell him and see what happened. She had stayed in the tent all day pacing constantly talking to herself about all the possible outcomes.

She barely took time for herself and was too nervous to eat and refused food that was brought to her. Petracles' men were told to look after her while he was away, which was nice of him, she thought. Forcing herself to drink water every now and then as her mouth continued to become drier and drier as the night went on. She figured that it was passed midnight now and thought it odd that he hadn't come back to the campsite yet.

Feeling a swell of emotions swirling inside her she decided to just leave, fearing what would happen if she told him. As she was about to leave Petracles entered the tent with a tired smile, glancing at her his smile beamed and Xena backed away slowly, a bit shocked that he returned just in time to ruin her escape. She was trapped now and had no choice but to tell him. She thought of going back to her home but she couldn't face her mother especially since Lyceus was dead because of her and then pregnant by someone else besides her fiancé? No she couldn't face that kind of shame. It was too great so she kept cool and smiled back at Petracles as he began unbuckling his armor and took off his tunic, throwing it on a chair close to his bed.

He laid on his bed just in his trousers and reclined on some pillows, gesturing her to come join him. Xena grinned, "I'd rather stand. I'm not very tired," Xena admitted.

He tisked and crawled over to the edge of the bed, grabbing her waist and kissed her hand gently. Xena's eyes widened at how close he was to her and gently pushed him away. She was able to hide this for more than fourteen weeks but it would be too obvious now especially if she unclothed in front of him. She avoided getting in bed with him for a couple of weeks now without him noticing, but not anymore, not now. Petracles brought her body closer to him after she had pushed him away and Xena felt herself tense up.

_"So did you tell him?" Gabrielle asked interrupting Xena's story._

_Xena sighed, "I was trying to but I was too afraid," she continued on._

"Petracles, please!" she pushed him off with more force this time and he fell back onto the bed a bit irritated at her sudden behavior.

"What's gotten into you, Xena?" he asked and leaned back on the palms of his hands, gazing at her.

Xena wrapped her arms around herself, feeling that was the best way to protect her and her child. She took a couple of steps back and turned around, closing her eyes trying her best to stay level headed. So far this was not working out the way she had hoped. She had this all planned out –tell him, see his reaction and then figure out the outcome –but that wasn't happening. She felt his hands on her shoulders now as her back was turned to him. Her eyes burst wide open and immediately tensed.

He kissed her shoulder and slowly lowered her blouse off her shoulders, kissing her neck softly. Xena allowed her body to relax somewhat but still felt this was not the right time. "Petracles..." she pleaded.

He grinned and kept coaxing her to succumb to his whims, gently rubbing her shoulders he turned her around and saw her beautiful young face before his eyes. Her dark long hair perfectly framing her face and blue striking eyes. Her expression did worry him a bit though. She was not being herself.

He grabbed her hands, holding them tightly. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She exhaled slowly, "I really have to...to tell you something."

Petracles grinned, "okay. What is it?"

Her mouth opened but her speech was lost to her. No words came out of her mouth and all she could was stare at Petracles' puzzled face. Once a smile on his lips became a frown and he inched her closer to the bed as she stood. He sat on the edge of the bed looking into her glacial marbles. "Xena?" he prompted.

Suddenly she felt like she needed to just blurt this out as this wasn't going very smoothly so far. "I'm pregnant." Her eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. He pushed her back a few steps and took good look at her not noticing anything different about her. After he examined her he started laughing t her and she frowned. "This is not funny."

"You can't be...pregnant, Xena!" his laugh died down as he saw the seriousness in her face. He then stood up hastily and slowly unlaced her corset while she stood absolutely still. The corset fell to the ground and he looked into her eyes. Her eyes were very piercing as if she was staring into his soul. There Xena stood in her black long sleeved blouse and pants in front of him. He glanced at her eyes once again and looked down cautiously.

Slowly he allowed his hand to come to her slightly swollen abdomen and felt her body tense at his touch. He snatched his hand away with shocked eyes. It was obvious that Xena had not been lying or trying to trick him, there was definitely a baby there, he felt it, he saw it.

He brushed passed her and held his head in hands, trying his best to think as clearly as possible. After a few silent moments to himself he turned around to a still standing Xena.

"You need to get rid of that...that _thing_ ," he said uncomfortably.

Xena turned around with her mouth agape and her hand came to her womb protecting the small child that she now carried within her. "Are you insane?" she definitely didn't expect him to say that to her, but he did. That not only shocked her but hurt her as well, especially since he called their child a 'thing'.

Petracles felt his blood rising and he came close to her, not wishing to hurt her he groaned and threw a cup at the wall of the tent. "Then you need to leave," he said quietly.

After an awkward silence Xena picked up her corset and sword that lay on a chair, quickly exiting the tent without another word. Petracles turned to watch her leave and felt a headache creeping up on him. He pulled out the trinket he was going to give to Xena and threw it on the bed feeling frustrated, but he didn't really have time to deal with her or a baby at the moment.

She walked through the camp and many of the soldiers looked to her direction with confused faces. They hadn't seen Xena in a few days as she didn't want to come out of the tent even for food or to converse happily like she normally did. Xena tread further into the dark forestry alone with just her sword and the clothes she wore. Feeling like her body was on a high she couldn't keep herself from stopping to rest, quickening her pace through the forest.

_"So...what did you do after that?" Gabrielle asked, intrigued to hear the rest of the story. She saw the forlorn look on Xena's face and took a step back from asking questions._

_Xena pressed on further. "I walked far enough from Petracles' camp to where he or his men wouldn't find me." She paused. "I stayed there for a couple of days. I did not allow myself the time to cope with what happened. Perhaps I was angry, but I was more upset than anything else..." she trailed off._

_She laughed a bit, feeling embarrassed to carry on what happened next. "I was too young to realize the reality of the situation I was in. I was also not very skilled with a sword at the time. I was still learning. That next night I learned a lot of things..." she stared off at the wall again._

Xena finally allowed her body to rest and fell asleep next to the fire she made earlier that evening. This would be the third night by herself. She had been with Petracles the entire time since she left home and look where that got her. She sighed, letting sleep overcome her. The cold ground was not as nice as a warm bed but it was good enough.

A few minutes after she fell asleep she heard footsteps and someone kicked her, jolting her awake. A group of unfamiliar men surrounded her. They looked more like sea men than anything else and Xena immediately stood up grabbing her sword.

What she supposed was the leader grinned at her. "You're too pretty to be out here by yourself," he winked. Xena snarled and swung her sword at him, knocking his dagger out of his hand, alarming the other men. He growled and drew another weapon and Xena felt fear for the first time in a battle. She was by herself this time though. Backing up slowly she was being circled by a group of ten men, her eyes darted back and forth watching their every move. _I can't keep them at bay all at once_. Her heart raced faster as they took many steps closer towards her.

One of the men behind her kicked her in the back and she stumbled forward, frowning she turned and struck the man in the chest with her sword, kicking him to the ground. He winced in pain, feeling blood trickle down his armored chest from the blade's blow.

The larger man grabbed Xena's throat tightly and lifted her off the ground. She kicked her legs and saw the fire within the man's eyes. It was obvious she had pissed him off after she killed one of his men in a single strike. She choked and tried to release herself, but his smile only made her feel sick.

He pulled out a small knife from his jacket pocket and ran it across her face, drawing blood. Her eyes widened and struggled to get free from his hold. His laugh was not helping and she was starting to think that she would never be able to become a greater ruler if she wasn't able to fight very well. She felt immediate shame, anger and desperation at this very second.

With a quick move he struck her in her lower abdomen and she gasped, feeling the imminent pain soar through her body. This didn't give her any time to process. The man let go of her and she coughed as she hit the ground. Her hand went to the wound and looked at her blood stained fingers with wide eyes. Suddenly she felt the need to scream, but once again nothing came out but a dry sound from the back of her throat, trying to mimic some kind of scream.

She looked up creasing her eyebrows and tried to get up but one of the men punched her square in her face, knocking her out. Realizing that she had nothing to offer, figuring she was too much trouble and after rummaging through her clothes they found no valuables on her they left her there to bleed.

* * *

Xena stared at Gabrielle. Suddenly she felt a lot better explaining this to somebody other than herself, no longer feeling completely terrible and ashamed of herself. Gabrielle sat across from her friend in shock and loss for words.

She glided her hand towards Xena's and gripped it tightly. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. Xena smiled and opened her mouth to respond until a bright light appeared in her room, they shielded their eyes.

"You really know how to tell a Greek tragedy," the goddess smiled with her hands on her hips. Gabrielle and Xena looked to Aphrodite and she was definitely the Love Goddess that was for sure. Her attire completely gave that away.

Xena moved from her spot on the bed and tried to get up. "you! You have Eve don't you?" she winced as the pain worsened.

Aphrodite held up her hand stopping Xena from moving any further. "Slow your roll, warrior babe. Let's just say I saw what my brother did to you. I felt kind of bad," she sighed.

Gabrielle arched her eyebrow, "what are you talking about?" she asked confusedly.

The goddess huffed rolling her eyes. "you know, that stupid mind trick he did on you. Showed you your potential past, yadayada," she shrugged a shoulder casually as if Ares did this kind of thing to everyone all the time. She then chuckled and held up her finger, "oh and he did steal one of my oils from my room," she frowned.

Xena was showing confusion now and looked to the blonde goddess. "Oil?"

Aphrodite nodded, "he thought he was trying to be slick to get you in bed with him. Well, Ares knew that you wouldn't go willingly so he stole an oil from my room." She sighed loudly.

"That bastard," Xena said lowly. She pointed her finger at Gabrielle. "I knew he did something to me that night! No way in Tartarus I would sleep with him." Gabrielle blinked at this, feeling a bit lost, but not totally and followed along.

"For some weapon? Can you _believe_ him?" Aphrodite sassily put her hands on her hips, shaking her head at Ares.

Xena smirked and grabbed the chakram that was beneath her pillow and showed Aphrodite. "You mean this weapon?"

The goddess nodded and then gasped, letting her hands come to her mouth. "You actually got it? Wow, Ar' has been trying to get his hands on that thing for...forever," she smirked.

Xena grew tired of this goddess's dancing around subjects and rolled her eyes. She just wanted to know what happened to Eve. She let her escape not once, not twice but three times and if it was because of Aphrodite then she wanted answers and immediately. "Do you know where my daughter is or not?"

Aphrodite smugly smiled and nodded, folding her arms. "Like I said, I felt bad for you. Artemis owed me so I asked her to do something for you." Xena raised her eyebrow, not following this woman at all. She snorted, "I mean, she did steal my couple and get them married without my consent. I told her that I would get her back for that...with love of course," she beamed.

Xena held her hand up becoming frustrated. "What did you do?" she hissed at the Love Goddess.

She puckered her lips, "ouch." She touched her chest as if she had been shocked, causing Xena to grow more angry as this woman kept up her charades. "You should really lighten up, princess," she winked. She sighed and shrugged lazily, "well I really have to get going..." she was about to disappear until Gabrielle stood up, grabbing her arm.

"Aren't you going to tell us where Xena's daughter is? You can't just appear and disappear like that," Gabrielle said, holding firmly on her arm.

Aphrodite smugly smiled, "oh you will see her soon, don't you worry about that." She soon disappeared in a flutter of pink dust surrounding Gabrielle.

She looked to Xena with raised hands and worried eyes. Xena frowned and sat up, suddenly feeling better than she did before. The pain had come and gone, touching her stomach she felt no aching.

"What did you think she meant by that?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena shook her head, "your guess is as good as mine, Gabrielle." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My pain is gone," she admitted.

The blonde smiled and soon forgot about Aphrodite's cryptic words. "Good." She looked and saw light coming through the rainy clouds, grabbing Xena's hand she hoisted her up from the bed carefully. "We should get some food, you've been up most of the night."

Xena shook her head, "that's alright Gabrielle, you can go ahead without me," she smiled dimly. Gabrielle stopped and looked at her friend, tempting to care take for her again. Xena saw that look and pat her hand gently. "I'm not very hungry." She smiled reassuring her friend.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm sure." Gabrielle still looked at her with concern and she groaned. "Really, I'm fine. I just need to rest."

Gabrielle nodded and allowed Xena to reorganize her vanity set and grab some fresh towels. "Do you think Eve will turn up soon?" she asked and Xena stopped, looking at her blonde companion.

"We probably shouldn't lose any sleep over it Gabrielle," she grinned dully. "She was not supposed to be here anyway." She continued putting her belongings back into her drawers and left for the baths. Gabrielle watched her leave and slowly closed the door cautiously.


	36. Chapter 36

**AN: thank you all for reading and giving feedback. I will have justice for Eve, if you know what I mean ;) in the meanwhile, one more surprise! Enjoy!**

_Chapter 34_

Swords clashed against one another as Xena danced around Gabrielle early in the morning. All students were asleep and would not wake for another hour or so. Xena grinned beneath the black mesh face guard and pushed her friend back, stunning her as she stumbled into a flower pot. Gabrielle smirked and stood her stance, adjusting her black face guard, coming to Xena with the sword in her hand. She clashed her blade with Xena's many times and saw her warrior friend's surprised face and blocked each blow as quickly as she could.

Xena grinned as she started backing up as Gabrielle came at her like a trained warrior that she was. As she was about to thrust her blade into Gabrielle, she was caught off guard and Gabrielle knocked her off her feet and she landed on her back with a blonde staring down at her with the blade to her throat. Xena breathed heavily and she stared into her green eyes.

"You finally got me," Xena smirked and Gabrielle threw the sword aside, helping her friend up off the ground.

Gabrielle took off the mesh mask and doused her face in water smiling to herself. She felt proud of herself that she finally got Xena on the ground after many weeks of attempts. Xena was a great warrior but she wasn't always on her guard especially as of late.

"one in a million chances, " Gabrielle chuckled and handed Xena a glass of water from the basin. Xena downed the water and threw her mask on a ledge, leaning against the wall, wiping the sweat off her forehead. Gabrielle brushed off some dirt off her white pants and stared at a defeated Xena. Her cheeks were red from the spar they had been going at for a couple of hours. "Did you let me win?" she smirked.

Xena lolled her head over with a smile and kept drinking water to quench her thirst. "You won fair and square, Gabrielle," she swirled her sword in the air and stepped inside her palace. She looked to the empty villa and saw the maids bringing fruit and an assortment of food out for the students in the next room. Gabrielle followed in and stopped beside her as she stared into the dining area.

"I'll see you in the baths?" Gabrielle asked with a hopeful smile. Xena turned to her friend and nodded.

"I will meet you there in a minute. I'm going to check on something," she said and turned to leave, heading down the long hallway. Gabrielle watched Xena disappear behind a few columns and arched her brow. Thinking nothing of it she head to the baths on the opposite end of the palace. She wasn't going to wait for Xena as she really desired to clean herself.

* * *

Xena rounded the corner and came to Solan's room. She imagined he'd be sleeping by now. So far he had stayed here for a month or so and he really enjoyed reading, writing and occasionally sparring with Gabrielle when he got the chance if she wasn't too busy. Xena hadn't seen Solan in a week or so as she had been to the training grounds to observe her men. She also got a few letters from Phraates, but she simply ignored them. She didn't want anything to do with him and his ridiculous alliance. As much as she wanted to, she wanted to write Borias but she had no idea where he was now. He was always on the move and it was very hard to track him, unless she sent out a scout to search for him she wasn't going to get in contact with him any time soon.

She opened the door and saw Solan asleep in his bed with a few scrolls scattered on his bed. She also saw a small short sword lying on his desk. She stepped inside and closed the curtains, blocking any sunlight that came into the room. Xena slowly made her way to his bed and she gathered up the loose scrolls, rolling them up gently and setting them on his desk with the rest of his work. Solan stirred in his slumber and Xena stopped making noise and watched him as he rolled over, bringing the blankets closer to his chest. He breathed out slowly and Xena smiled, brushing her hand alongside his cheek then ran her hand over his blonde hair.

Turning to leave she watched him one last time and then closed the door silently and head to the baths where Gabrielle was waiting for her.

* * *

As soon as she arrived she stripped of her clothes, throwing them aside and saw Gabrielle had already taken the liberty of opening almost every oil bottle there was inside the place. She stepped into the water carefully down the steps in the bath. Immediately she dipped her entire body in the warm water, coming up slowly brushing her hands over her hair.

Gabrielle smiled and waded over to Xena, grabbing some oils for her long hair. "Where did you go?" she asked curiously.

Xena turned around and allowed Gabrielle to doused her raven locks with oil. "I went to see Solan," she grinned as she washed her skin, allowing the water to glide against her arms. "He was still sleeping."

A moment of silence came between the two and Gabrielle began rubbing the oil onto Xena's shoulders. Xena closed her eyes and tried to relax her body as she felt she hadn't really had time to relax lately. She had gotten a few letters from Octavius regarding Solan's stay with her. She dare not tell Solan about them, but she did indeed reply, insisting that Solan liked staying here with her and she managed to say that he wanted to keep staying in Athens. Xena knew that Solan was not a child anymore, but she was still her child and truthfully she'd rather have him here with her than in Rome. Now that Octavius knew of her status with Solan as his mother, she feared that everyone else in the empire knew about him, but hoped they didn't. She didn't want Solan anywhere near violence because of her. She wouldn't allow that to happen _again_.

Xena turned to her friend and grabbed her hand tightly. "Gabrielle. I want to say thank you," she smiled.

Gabrielle looked at her in concern and perplexity. "For what Xena?"

"For...showing me that I can be a good person and for just being here with..me," she added shyly.

Gabrielle blinked and grinned tightening her grip while holding Xena's hand in her own. "You were always a good person, Xena. You just needed some guidance. I won't leave you now, I think we've been through a little too much," she laughed lightly at that. Xena followed with a wide grin at that, staring into her reflection.

After drying themselves off Xena wore a red kimono, a gift that was given to her a long time ago. Gabrielle was in her room preparing for the day and she saw Xena standing at the entrance with a certain look on her face –a look she had never seen before. "What?" she began to feel self conscious and touched her face, hoping there was nothing there. Xena stifled a laugh and gestured for her to follow her. She soon disappeared and walked down the stairs.

Gabrielle quickly followed as she was still tying her bodice, hastily running down the stairs to catch up with Xena. She then halted once they reached the bottom of the steps.

"Xena, what is it? you're worrying me," she said and Xena smiled and looked at her friend, touching her hair generously.

"I have a surprise for you. It's outside in the gardens," she eyed the gardens ahead and Gabrielle looked at her skeptically. "Go on," she pushed her forward and the young blonde walked ahead slowly into the sunlight. As she took a few steps forward she saw a person standing in the middle of the atrium, circling around as she looked at her surroundings. Gabrielle took another step forward and felt her heart skip a beat for a moment.

Turning back to look at Xena she didn't have any words. Her brunette empress friend curtly nodded her head and placed her hands behind her back. Gabrielle's smile beamed and she went to Xena, hugging her tightly and Xena felt shocked at the sudden embrace, though she grinned and allowed Gabrielle to take in every moment.

Gabrielle turned around and saw the light becoming brighter as she stood at the entrance of the archway into the gardens. She stepped outside and called out almost afraid of what might happen next. "Lila?" she said and her sister whipped her head around to see her elder sister standing at the entrance. She smiled softly and walked forward examining her sister. She ran her fingers through her sister's short hair and took her time in silence to just stare at Gabrielle.

"how...how did you get here?" Gabrielle asked.

Lila truthfully didn't really know but she knew she was in a palace of some sort and she was in Greece. "A messenger was sent to me and told me to come with him to Greece. I –I didn't want any trouble so I left with him." She smiled and the two embraced one another.

Gabrielle opened her eyes and saw Xena staring at her with a warm smile matching her eyes. Xena turned slowly and left, walking down the long hallway. She pulled away from the embrace and wiped her sister's tears from her cheeks.

Lila slowed her breathing, "what is this place? And why are you here?"

Gabrielle feared her sister's reaction but didn't feel like lying to her. She had missed her entire childhood with her sister and this wasn't the time for any deception. "You're in Athens in the palace of the Empress..." she tread carefully as she saw Lila's eyes widen and took a step backward from her.

Lila folded her arms and looked at the palace and immediately knew who's fortress this was and which Empress Gabrielle spoke of. "I'm in the palace of that witch, Xena, aren't I?" she asked and when Gabrielle didn't respond she turned forcefully at her sister with a prominent frown. "Aren't I Gabrielle?!"

Gabrielle sighed and saw Lila resist her touch. "Lila please. Xena is not the same person as she was all those years ago. I promise, she's changed." She pleaded.

Lila turned and started laughing. "Changed? Gabrielle, people don't change! Did you forget when she burned our village and killed our parents? Because...I didn't, but it seems you have," she began walking around the gardens and immediately felt envy. She wished she lived in a place like this, _like_ Xena. That woman robbed her childhood and she could never forgive her for that, but Gabrielle...she was here in the palace as if she felt comfortable here living with that witch.

"I have never forgotten our parents or you Lila!" Gabrielle said firmly. Her eyes swelled with tears. "I looked for you for years, but when I couldn't find you...I thought you were dead," she said quietly. Lila looked to her sister and sighed heavily.

Silence.

Gabrielle let a loud sigh out and placed her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Xena brought you here. It must be her way of apologizing to me...to you." She grinned and saw Lila furrow her brows, closing her eyes tightly, not wanting to hear Xena's name again.

"Are you her slave or something? Why are you here in her palace?" she asked. Gabrielle nervously smiled and then let go of her sister, walking around in a circle. Lila's eyes danced back and forth at her sister as she paced.

The blonde rubbed her chin and then folded her arms. "Xena is...my friend. I have been here for a year." She saw Lila wasn't taking this very well and she groaned. "It's a long story, but Lila..." she ran her fingers through her long brown hair. "I am so happy to see you after all these years of lost time..."

Lila couldn't be mad at her sister as she hadn't seen her in many years, but she couldn't understand why Gabrielle would befriend someone as ruthless as Xena. She hugged her sister once more in a much needed long embrace.

* * *

After Gabrielle had reunited with Lila she invited her into the villa and gave her some fruit, wine and water. They talked for a long while, must have been a couple of hours. Gabrielle explained everything to her from the time Xena brought her in as a slave, used her for sport, then laughed about the time she tried to kill Xena. Lila did not find that part of the story too amusing as she secretly wished she had committed the deed. She then went on further and explained that she and Xena were able to open Athens to the public and allow students to come study in her palace. Lila thought that idea was good and well thought out and of course typical of Gabrielle to suggest a library filled with scrolls. She remembered she always liked to write.

Being inside this place she couldn't help but feel a tad uncomfortable and out of place. She told Gabrielle what happened after she left her in the forest. Deciding to flee as an immediate instinct she stumbled upon a couple traveling and decided to take her in. A nice Turkish couple that were just passing through at the time. Lila, being so young couldn't refuse but also wanted to take Gabrielle with her in that moment. As soon as the couple saw flames from afar they were frightened and instantly left the scene. Lila stayed with them as a daughter and traveled to the outskirts of Turkey close to the Aegean Sea. She wouldn't dare go back to Potidea but she too thought her sister dead after all these years.

As she became older she often wanted to go back to Potidea and she did but found nothing but ruins. She wouldn't know where to look if she were to find Gabrielle, if that thought even entered her mind. She had her mind set on the fact that she could be dead so she never looked. Just a child, she couldn't fathom the entirety of the situation. Gabrielle couldn't blame her for thinking she were dead as she too began to think the same after many years of trying to find her. Now that she was here in front of her, she wanted this moment to never end.

Xena came down the stairs and saw Lila speaking with Gabrielle in the villa across the way. Lila caught glimpse of the intimidating empress as she glided down the steps. The two locked eyes and Gabrielle turned around to see no other than Xena standing with a blank face. Her eyes went to her sister who seemed to fear the woman. Immediately getting up she went to Xena and grabbed her arm, suggesting her to come forth.

Lila stood up and her eyes grew with fear and anger as she stared at Gabrielle walking with Xena in a very friendly manner. She suddenly felt like she couldn't move and was in shock. Xena now stood in front of Lila and stared into her green eyes, those which matched Gabrielle's perfectly. She expected Xena to snarl at her but instead she bowed her head slowly at Lila. She still stood in utter shock and watched Xena lift her head up to meet her eyes once again and unexpectedly saw the empress smile warmly at her. Something she'd never thought she'd see from a woman like her.

Gabrielle watched the two exchange in silence and Lila almost cracked a smile but shied away from it, remaining stoic as ever in front of Xena. Xena let go of Gabrielle's hold and took another step forward closer to her younger sister. Lila backed away but then Xena placed her hand on Lila's shoulder softly.

Xena felt knots in her stomach as she touched the girl's shoulder. That's all she was –a girl. She was technically a young woman, but to her she was a girl. A girl whom she ripped everything out from under her at such a young age. She felt that an apology was overdue and also didn't know if that would be enough.

Breathing out slowly she steadied her inner feelings. "I'm sorry for what I did to you...to Gabrielle. You deserved so much more and I took it from you." Xena said and Lila slowly relaxed her body. Gabrielle smiled as she stood beside Xena and felt her apology was definitely sincere. She surely hoped that Lila might feel the need to forgive her friend. "I can't bring back your childhood or your parents. I only hope that I can someday be able to forgive myself and for you to forgive me too.." she held her breath and watched Lila stare into her eyes with her mouth agape utterly speechless.

Lila saw Xena's hand slide off her shoulder and she was able to breathe again. She stared at her sister and saw she had warm eyes. Xena looked to Gabrielle with a sad smile. "If..." the two looked at her once more and she felt nervous as Xena's eyes pierced into hers. "If Gabrielle is able to live here...with you..in peace and is able to forgive you...then perhaps," she took a long pause and saw the hope in her sister's pleading eyes. "I will be able to do the same... _someday_ ," she breathed out slowly.

Xena and Gabrielle grinned together and suddenly Gabrielle grabbed the empress's hand, squeezing tightly. She then went forth and hugged her sister once more, never getting tired of doing that.

Lila had a thought and looked at Xena who seemed to be at ease with herself. She wasn't really the same woman she had seen all those years ago. Her long hair was gone, combed and had a nice sheen to it. Her clothes were not tribal anymore and even her eyes had changed. "How did you find me?" she asked.

The empress's eyebrows rose and she smirked, "I have good messengers and scouts. It took me a couple of months but.." she eyed Gabrielle. "It was no trouble finding you."

A smile finally emerged on Lila's face and felt Gabrielle wrap her arm around her shoulder. "I suppose I should thank you for allowing me to reunite with Gabrielle..."

Xena waved her hand dismissively. "No thanks are needed. Gabrielle deserves happiness in her life," her eyes met with the blonde's and they shared a knowing smile with one another.

* * *

Lila had stayed at the palace for a couple more days but insisted that she'd return back to Turkey where her home was. That was what she called home and her parents. Gabrielle wished her to stay but understood if her sister wanted to leave. She could feel her uneasiness as she was in the palace, but at least she knew where she was and could write to her or even visit her whenever she wanted to. Lila still couldn't understand how Gabrielle could be friends with Xena after what she had done, but somehow felt her sister was more brave than her. She was able to befriend her worst enemy, the entire Greek speaking world's enemy and managed to change her in some way. For that, Lila loved her sister even more for that and could maybe one day find the same forgiveness she had shown Xena, but now was not the time.

Xena was in her office looking over a few documents that came her way as usual. These last few days had been rather busy especially with Lila here. She allowed Gabrielle some alone time for those days to focus her attention on her sister. She made herself scarce and quietly strolled through the palace and remained in her office for most of the time.

As the hours went by she had asked Racha to make some tea for her as she wasn't feeling well recently. Something that she couldn't explain but figured that she had just been tired. Nothing seemed to be agreeing with her no matter what she ate. She casually skipped meals making sure nobody noticed she would pick at her food throughout the day when Racha brought her trays into her office or her bedroom. She didn't wish to tell Gabrielle about her sudden illness as she couldn't take that happiness away from her.

Gabrielle came into Xena's office as the door was open, welcoming guests. She smugly smiled as Xena sipped her tea. Her eyes traveled up to see her blonde friend grinning at her.

"What's with the face?" Xena smirked.

Gabrielle sauntered in and immediately skipped over to Xena, hugging her tightly as she did many times before but felt the need to do it again. Xena, surprised at the sudden embrace she smiled and patted Gabrielle's arm gently.

"If I haven't thanked you, I want to thank you again –"

Xena brought Gabrielle to stand beside her as she sat down looking up at her. "I think you thanked me enough Gabrielle. I just want you to be happy."

Gabrielle smirked, "but I am happy! Because..." she felt her cheeks redden. "...of you." Xena smiled with closed lips and drank the rest of her tea, feeling another wave of nausea hit her again. Making sure to keep herself discrete she didn't look at Gabrielle any longer but began organizing the papers on her desk.

"Are you happy Xena?" she asked in quiet voice.

Xena, caught off guard stood up facing her friend. "Yes of course, because you are."

* * *

The following week Xena spent most of her time in her bedroom and insisted that she wouldn't be bothered. She would not even let Gabrielle come her room so she locked her door, shutting herself away. She lay on her bed on her side, curling her legs close to her chest she indistinctly bit her fingernails nervously.

Gabrielle leaned her ear against Xena's door and heard retching from behind the door. She winced at that sound and heard Xena groan softly. She hadn't done much today as she was too worried about Xena for the remainder of the day.

Solan came up the stairs and saw Gabrielle at his mother's door, listening intently. "Hey," he startled the blonde and she placed a hand over her chest.

"Solan don't do that!" she hushed him and continued listening.

"What are you doing?" he whispered and came closer and heard Xena heaving and he pulled his ear away. "What's wrong with her?" his voice filled with concern.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "I don't know because she won't let anyone see her!" she angrily whispered. Solan then knocked on the door and Gabrielle gasped, snatching his hand away. "What do you think you're doing?"

He arched a brow and knocked again but received no answer. "Mother...?" he called out.

Xena's eyes widened and she wiped her mouth, "what is it?" she answered quietly.

Gabrielle threw her hands in the air _. So she answers him and not me, great._ Solan looked to Gabrielle and leaned in closer to the door.

"Are you alright? You don't sound too good," he called out.

Xena sighed and sat up in bed debating if she should go and greet Solan but she didn't really want to leave her room at the moment. She managed to rest her head against the headboard of her bed and call out, "I'm fine. I just...want to be alone," she said quietly.

Solan shrugged his shoulders at Gabrielle, but she wasn't likely to take that as an honest answer. She knocked on the door more forcefully this time. "Xena! I don't believe you!" she placed her hands on her hips and then they both heard the lock unhinge and Xena opened the door showcasing a very pale face and wild hair.

They both looked to her in shock and Gabrielle blinked. Solan came closer to his mother and looked into her eyes. "Mother you don't look...good."

Xena half smiled. "Solan I appreciate your sympathy but I am fine," she patted his shoulder and he arched a brow staring at her intently.

Gabrielle felt the need to laugh at her dear friend. "You are so stubborn. Have you looked at yourself lately?" Xena glared at her blonde companion and Solan suddenly felt he needed to be elsewhere.

"should I go...get someone?" he suggested.

Xena yelled, "No!" he stopped in his tracks and she sighed. "I mean no...thank you though, Solan."

Gabrielle turned to Solan and nodded her head, "go tell Racha to bring some water and some towels," she commanded and he instantly ran down the stairs to go fetch the maid.

Gabrielle pushed Xena back into her room and set her down on her bed and she went for the bath immediately heating up some water. Xena rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself, feeling like a child that was being coddled.

"Gabrielle can you stop doing that. I have maids for that!" she called out and felt the sourness fill her mouth again and she was tempted to gag. She returned from the bath and stared at her friend with concern.

"You look awful," Gabrielle said bluntly.

Xena looked to her friend and arched an eyebrow. "You don't say?" her voice dripping with sarcasm. Racha came in the room with some fresh towels and a basin of water. She eyed her empress carefully and saw she looked very pale and a little out of sorts. She hadn't seen her like this in quite some time, not since that horrible battle she managed to get out five years ago. Except, this time, it was different. She eyed her carefully and handed the towels to Gabrielle leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

After a few minutes of coaxing Gabrielle finally managed to get Xena in the water and she combed through her hair gently. Xena held a glass of water in her hands, tapping the cup impatiently with her fingernails.

Gabrielle noticed Xena's tension and stopped combing her wet hair. "If you were feeling sick you should've told me."

Xena scoffed, "I can handle it on my own, Gabrielle," she sipped a bit of water and realized that was an immediate mistake. Covering her mouth she leaned over the edge of the tub and threw up on Gabrielle's boots.

Gabrielle furrowed her brows and sighed heavily. Closing her eyes tightly she heard more of Xena's retching and decided to look away, reminding herself to burn her boots later. She wished that her ears would be able to block out that sound as it wasn't helping. Xena slid back into the warm water, ducking half her face in the water, wrapping her arms around herself. Gabrielle looked down and crinkled her nose. She knelt down close to Xena's ear and whispered, "oh yeah, you're handling it very nicely.." she grumbled.

Awhile later Xena was laying in her bed, sitting up leaning against her headboard. Gabrielle tended to the fireplace and poked the fire with a stick feeling as if she were on one of her adventures with Xena again. She had cleaned her boots and set them close to the fire to dry. Barefoot she padded over to Xena and sat on her bed staring at her. Xena looked at her and instantly looked away feeling embarrassed.

"Xena I really think you should go –"

"I'm not seeing a healer," Xena immediately interjected. She looked to the window and stared out at the dark night sky.

Gabrielle sighed. "Have you ever felt like this before?" she asked.

Xena remained quiet and she certainly had felt like this before but had denied it many times throughout the last few weeks. She knew the feeling all too well, twice in her life.

"Yes," she said quietly. She then averted her eyes to Gabrielle and looked down, not wishing to look at her any longer. "With Solan and with...Eve."

There was a long moment of silence and Gabrielle didn't know what to say. To say the least, she was bemused.

"But...that is impossible," Xena managed to say, scoffing at the idea.

Gabrielle scooted closer to her warrior friend and gently rubbed Xena's arm. "Maybe...it is _not_ ," finally catching onto what Xena was thinking.


	37. Chapter 37

**AN: can't take the battle out of Xena, no matter what! Thanks for reading everyone! Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 35_

"So let me get this straight," Ares folded his arms and sighed heavily. "You impregnated Xena because you felt bad for her?" he scoffed. "What kind of lame excuse is that?" he gripped.

Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders as her hands were firmly placed on her large hips. She began twirling some hair around her finger with a wide grin. "Oh don't look so upset Ares. Haven't you put that woman through enough?" she admitted.

Ares shook his head and began pacing around in a circle around his throne within his temple. He pointed his finger at his sister and frowned. "This...this is _not_ good!" he groaned loudly.

"What's so bad about a baby, Ares? Upset that your warrior babe will be out of commission for awhile?" she winked.

The War God couldn't fathom his sister's sudden behavior and generosity as of late. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Xena, he loved her, but he wouldn't dare tell her that. Definitely not. Now this would ruin everything in the coming future and Xena had yet to find out what lays before her. An impending war that Ares knew was coming months ahead. At the same time he felt jealous that the child that Xena carried was not his, but he couldn't change that, thanks to his sister. He rolled his eyes just thinking of that generous gift that Aphrodite bestowed upon Xena. How could she do that to his warrior queen?

"You have no idea what you have just done, Aphrodite," Ares threw his hands in the air and plopped down on his throne, resting his chin on his fist, furrowing the eyebrows.

Aphrodite quirked her smile. "I know exactly what I have done Ares. Something you're incapable of doing, showing compassion and love," she giggled and disappeared from her brother's temple. Ares groaned and banged his head against the back of throne. _Curse you Aphrodite_.

* * *

The following day Xena sat on her bed, refusing to leave her room, continuing her silence throughout the week. Although Gabrielle managed to come by every chance she got to check on Xena. Every time she came into her room she saw Xena sitting on her bed in the same exact position, not moving a muscle, except to blink. Growing tired of Xena's solemn attitude she closed the door behind her and commanded Solan to teach her philosophy class for the remainder of the day. He didn't question it, though he wondered what was wrong with his mother as she hadn't left her room for a week now and it didn't seem like she was going to stop either.

Gabrielle sighed and crawled onto the bed, adjusting her maroon skirt. She faced Xena and saw she was in some sort of trance, staring at the sheets with her hands folded in her lap. Gabrielle leaned in and Xena didn't even flinch. She snapped her fingers in front of Xena's eyes but there was no response.

Sighing she laid down on Xena's bed, staring at the ceiling. "You can't just sit in here forever, Xena." She looked to her friend and still she remained silent.

"I...don't deserve it," Xena said quietly and Gabrielle sat up immediately as soon as she heard Xena finally say something. "What?" the blonde scribe answered.

"I don't deserve her, Gabrielle," her, meaning Eve. Xena continued staring at the sheets in utter silence. Gabrielle frowned and scooted closer to her warrior friend folding her arms.

She began chuckling, "but Xena you don't even if you're –"

"I am, Gabrielle," Xena interrupted and her eyes lifted to meet her friend's. "I..." she stared off, rubbing her face out of nerves. "I know this feeling. I've felt it before with Solan and I can feel it now," she sighed. She expressed a small smile and stared out the window, looking at the bright sun shining into her bedroom. "I failed to keep Eve safe all those years ago," she frowned.

Gabrielle felt that this conversation got dark really fast and she sighed, swinging her legs over to the edge of the bed. She touched Xena's shoulder gently, "you didn't fail." Xena shrugged her shoulder from her friend's touch. Alarmed by Xena's behavior she slowly retracted her hand, placing it on her thigh. Huffing she turned to Xena and placed a hand on her cheek, rearing her head towards her. "Maybe this is a sign that you have another chance with your daughter?" she hoped those were the right words.

Xena's eyes swelled with tears, though she wouldn't shed them. She stared at Gabrielle and shook her head, scooting away from her and closer to the pillows. "What if...I fail again?" her tone quiet.

Gabrielle smiled, "you're not going to fail, Xena." She reassured her.

Xena shook her head, crossing her legs and flayed her hands around out of frustration. "But Solan! I gave him away and never saw him again. Look at him, he's almost sixteen and I know barely anything about him. I never got to meet Eve until I went through Ares' alternate reality and I didn't like what I saw." She paused. "I didn't like what I saw, Gabrielle." She stared into her friend's eyes, feeling a tear stream down her cheek.

Gabrielle didn't like to see her friend saddened but she felt the need to snap some sense back into her. She kept talking about her past but the past hurts and she wasn't able to change that. See, that's the problem with Xena, she relies on her past to conqueror her instead of her future to will her to succeed. "Those were different times Xena." She wiped the tear off her friend's face. "You were not in your right mind at the time, but this time will be different. I am here with you, right?" she smiled.

Xena sighed, somehow she felt better after Gabrielle said that to her. She didn't really have any guidance or support in the past. She certainly didn't get any from Petracles, but she tried to put that out of her mind keeping that a distant memory. She felt Gabrielle's hand touch hers and she smiled softly at her. Then another thought entered her mind and instantly she felt fear course through her body. "What if I do everything wrong?"

Gabrielle laughed, "Xena, you won't do anything wrong, just have some faith in yourself will you?" she smirked squeezing her friend's hand tightly.

"But I don't know anything about children, Gabrielle," Xena felt embarrassed to say so. She saw the smug smile on her blonde friend's face and she looked away. Suddenly she felt like the child here instead of the one she carried.

"Xena," she said bluntly. "I have faith in you," she patted her hand and then stood up, fixing her skirt and top. "I need to go check on my class. I left Solan in charge," she rubbed the back of her head nervously. She didn't like leaving a teenager in charge of a philosophy class. Gods knows what he could be telling them right now. She sighed and skipped over to the door, turning back she saw Xena still on her bed. "You can't stay in here forever you know that, right?" she questioned.

Xena looked to her friend, nodding slowly. "Right," her grin barely visible. Gabrielle left deciding not to worry about Xena any longer. She had gotten her to talk some but not enough. She couldn't force her to leave her room, but she only wished that she would come out and at least observe the classes, like she normally would.

* * *

A half hour later Xena stood up from her bed, readjusting her black robe and started brushing her hair. She stared at her reflection and touched her face, noticing circles beneath her eyes. Frowning she set the brush down, turning to examine her profile of her body. Smoothing out the fabric against her skin she slowly brought her hand close to her midsection, almost afraid of what might happen next. Her fingers grazed against the fabric and she continued staring at herself in the mirror.

"Checking yourself out?" Aphrodite appeared in Xena's room. Xena gasped, snatching her hand away from her stomach, she breathed out heavily. Her cheeks reddened from embarrassment. She leaned against an archway in her room, turning her back to the goddess.

"you don't have to be shy, Xena," the Love Goddess grinned taking a few steps closer to the warrior queen. She sensed that the warrior wasn't so keen on what she had given her. Though she didn't sense anger within her, she sensed fear. A frown came to the goddess's lips. "You're scared," she said aloud.

Xena rolled her eyes and now folded her arms, staring at the wall ahead of her. Not wishing to make conversation with the goddess she remained quiet. She felt her presence behind her, very close in fact. "Don't be scared. I gave you something totally awesome and you're sad about it!" Aphrodite pouted.

Xena groaned, "I'm not sad, I'm not angry. I'm just confused. Why did you do this to me? Why now?" she questioned. These were not questions that Gabrielle could answer so she was glad that she had left when she did.

Aphrodite shrugged her shoulders and comfortably sat on Xena's bed. Smiling at her Xena turned around with folded arms. "Look, I'm giving you a chance to be with your daughter again, cool?" she tapped her fingers on her knee impatiently waiting for Xena's response. "Xena," she sighed and leaned on her palms against the bed. "You deserve this. Eve deserves to be with you." She stood up and started circling the warrior's room. "That little Eve is too cute, you know? She said you're the greatest warrior ever." She shrugged casually.

Xena perked up and unconsciously scratched her neck. Hearing those words made her feel confused, yet satisfied at the same time. "She said that to you?" she asked.

Aphrodite turned to Xena, nodding her head. "Oh yeah! She totally digs you, princess," she winked at the warrior woman. Xena felt a warm feeling entrance her and Aphrodite noticed the sudden change in Xena's attitude immediately. Smirking she placed her hands on her hips. "I wish you best of luck, _mommy_ ," she teased. "Oh and, stay out of trouble, kay?" she disappeared and Xena shook her head and decided to leave her bedroom for the first time in a week.

* * *

Gabrielle read to her students in over exaggerated voices and Solan stood next to Gabrielle, laughing at the voices she made along with the young children. Xena appeared in the archway of the room, folding her arms observing the class. Gabrielle caught glimpse of Xena and smiled, happy to see she had came out of her room. Continuing onward with her story all the children smiled at her and Xena shared a grin with them all as she listened to Gabrielle tell one of her famous stories.

After she concluded her story she bowed thanking the children as they clapped and beamed, anxiously asking her for more stories. Solan grinned as he saw the children's smiling faces. Gabrielle stood up, shaking her head at the young ones sitting down in front of her.

"Next time I will tell you two stories and Solan will help me, alright?" she said and they all seemed satisfied with that answer. The children stood up, turning around they saw Xena standing in the archway, towering over them all. One of the boy's gasped as he nearly ran into her legs. Xena peered down and saw the imminent unsettling fear in the child's eyes. The others soon followed similar looks as they normally did not see her and if they did she just walked by the classrooms. But she never entered one nor spoke to the children at all.

Gabrielle saw that the children were not going move passed Xena and saw the sad look on her friend's face. Solan folded his arms, observing this stare down between his mother and the dozen of children standing in front of her.

Xena put her hands on her knees, bending over slightly, smiling at the young children. The boy bit his fingernail nervously and she grabbed his small hand halting his anxious biting. "Miss Gabrielle is a very good teacher, isn't she?" she asked the young boy. He nodded his head slowly, staring into her blue eyes.

A brunette girl stepped forward, merely seven or eight years old. "Do you tell stories too, Miss Xena?" she asked.

Xena grinned, staring at Gabrielle whom stood behind the group of children. She saw her friend stifling a laugh, covering her mouth. Smirking she looked back at the young girl once more. "No I'm afraid I'm not a good storyteller." Her hand patted the young girl's cheek and she received a smile in return. She stood straight and stepped aside no longer blocking the exit of the classroom. "Go on now, off to your next class," she gestured and they quickly ran passed her with beaming faces.

Gabrielle gathered her scrolls and came to stand next to Xena. "You never come in any of my classes," she smirked.

Xena sighed, "there is a first for everything, Gabrielle," she grinned. Her friend nudged her arm and she peered down to see a smug face staring up at her.

"What made you come out of your room finally?" she asked curiously.

Xena remembered what Aphrodite said about Eve and how she thought so highly of her. She couldn't understand how such a small child could love her so much unconditionally and yet she didn't feel the same. She didn't how to feel about this situation. She knew that she had a certain responsibility now and she had to think of someone else besides herself. When she was younger and carried Eve for such a short time she felt scared, much the same feeling she felt right now. She had no idea what to do then and she had no idea what to do now. Though now, everything was different. She didn't have to conqueror lands, she had support, she had Gabrielle with her and Solan was there, though she hadn't really thought of his reaction as of late.

She had carried Eve for more than four months many years ago, enough time to feel the fluttering movements as she laid down in bed or when she rode a horse occasionally. She simply couldn't ignore that back then but tried denying it several times. Here she stood in an identical situation though this time she would choose not to deny nor ignore it. She needed to do right by Eve and carry her child's wishes to be loved and not set aside like a burden or an annoying pest in her way.

Distinctively her hand came to the life that now grew within her and she smiled at Gabrielle. "I had...a little reminder from someone," she concluded. Gabrielle quirked a smile and didn't question her friend any longer. She for once saw peace in Xena's eyes, something that never had come to light before.

Solan came to join the two women on the other end of the classroom, wanting to be included. Xena caught glimpse of Solan and a smile came to her lips, thankful that she had him in her life again. "Are you feeling better now mother?" he inquired with a nervous frown.

Xena embraced Solan tightly and he seemed surprised at her sudden warmth towards him. Gabrielle grinned and decided to leave the room to go back to the library to place these scrolls back where they belonged. Xena continued hugging her son and pulled away to see a rather perplexed Solan staring back at her. "Yes thank you for asking, Solan," she hooked arms with him and head into the hallway towards the gardens.

"Solan I have something to tell you," she began.

"You said you're alright though. You're not dying are you?" he asked and Xena laughed shaking her head. He nodded his head, relieved to hear that. He had just met her a few months ago after all these years from being absent in her life and it would be a shame to lose her so quickly.

"How would you feel if you had a sibling?" Xena said as she felt knots in her stomach as she walked with Solan quietly out into the gardens.

Solan stopped and stared at his mother confused by what she was insinuating. "I have a brother or sister?" _this woman is just full of surprises_.

Xena continued walking with her teenage son and smiled as they delve further into the palace gardens. "Well you see Solan..."

* * *

_Five Months Later_

Xena had received word from Octavius that he was going to expand his empire towards Egypt and the rest of North Africa. Somehow she wanted to give it up and not deal with it any longer but she had control over Egypt as Cleopatra was no longer queen. After Xena had killed Marc Antony ruthlessly, Cleopatra had killed herself a couple of months ago out of anguish. She was so unhappy without him that she couldn't just let him go in the afterlife alone. Xena didn't think anything of it as she never liked the Egyptian Queen very much. She was a horrible queen and thought that she'd do much better at ruling Egypt than she ever would.

With Cleopatra out of the way it seemed that Octavius had been building an army to invade Egypt and quickly and Phraates had sided with the Roman Emperor. Xena knew that the decision she made to decline his offer was the right one. Once she had word from Borias about a possible treaty with Phraates she knew that the snake would betray her once again, and she was right.

So far Xena had been out of the loop, but not entirely. She would go to war to keep Egypt within her grasp to keep her empire up to date and to for once trample over the Roman Empire, something she was never entirely capable of doing.

As the months went on Xena began preparing her army, gathering more troops from Corinth and Carthage as well to train in Greece, miles away from her palace. Gabrielle had been allowed to observe the training grounds as much as possible. She had slightly abandoned her position as teacher for now, though the other teachers continued onward. Xena insisted that the children not heed their learning during war time. She wouldn't hinder any education from those children as she had grown to like them over the year.

Xena sat on Argo, trotting through the training grounds looking at all of the men circling her, fighting against one another. Her hair had grown longer again much like it was a year ago. She went to the edge of the cliff and surveyed the men as she sat tall on her blonde horse. Donning a black dress and silver shoulder pads. Rolling her sleeves up from the immense heat she squinted her eyes as she saw one of the young soldiers fall to the ground. Rolling her eyes she trotted through the session to greet Gabrielle who was managing weapons and teaching hand to hand combat to a few young lads.

Dismounting off Argo she gave the reigns to one of the slave boys and set her hand on her hip, blocking the sun from her eyes she set her hand over her eyes.

"Remember the uppercut to the jaw, Thorin," Gabrielle stated and the young soldier nodded, running off to train with a few others. She sighed, wiping her brow and saw Xena standing next to her. She smiled at her as she dipped her hands in the water basin, washing her face. "How are you feeling?"

Xena sighed, "I'm very tired and it's hot as Hades out here," she smiled warmly. Gabrielle nodded in complete agreement with her consort.

Gabrielle looked up and down at Xena's attire. "Well, Xena, you _are_ wearing all black," she laughed.

The brunette shrugged, "I like black," she folded her arms at that last remark. Later the two walked up the stairs to sit in the balcony to observe more of the training sessions. Xena sat down graciously and began fanning herself with her hand. Gabrielle smiled, sitting down next to her. Racha came up behind them both as well as another attendant and began cooling them off with much needed fans. Xena sighed and turned to Racha. "thank you," she said slowing her breath and drank water as she watched her men carefully.

Gabrielle drank from her wineskin and saw Xena was in a trance as she watched her men train. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked for the zillionth time.

Xena swallowed and turned to Gabrielle with narrowed eyes. "Yes, Gabrielle, I'm sure." She handed her glass to Racha for more water. She downed the water and Gabrielle blinked, watching her down an entire pitcher of water by herself, cup by cup.

"thirsty?" Gabrielle smirked. Xena had a mouthful of water as she stared at her friend and swallowed slowly, grinning sheepishly. "Maybe you should go inside, I can watch them by myself?" she hoped Xena would comply.

The empress shook her head, "no I'm going to watch with you," she grabbed her hand tightly. Gabrielle sighed and knew she wouldn't win against Xena, not this time.

Another hour went by and Xena watched in silence alongside Gabrielle in the balcony. Gabrielle was growing tired of watching these men being drained by the heat, fighting slowly and getting knocked down one by one. She also saw the frustration in Xena's face as the training digressed. "Xena, they need to stop. Can't you see they're too exhausted? Even you're exhausted," Gabrielle lamented. Xena sighed and stood up slowly, walking over to expose herself on the balcony. She waved her hand immediately halting the soldiers' training sessions and permitted them to take a much needed break, especially since the sun was going to be setting soon.

Xena strolled through the villa that was attached to the training grounds. She hadn't been in her own bedroom in the palace for two months now, completely secluding herself off from her school, the children as well as Solan. She forbade him to come down here as he would become a distraction to her. She needed to be focused.

* * *

As soon as she reached her room she took off the silver armored shoulder pads, throwing them on the bed. Growing frustrated with her now waist length hair again she ran her fingers through her long locks, feeling the sweat drench the nape of her neck. Sighing, she sat on the bed, bending over to unlace her boots.

Gabrielle entered her room with a tray of fruit and water. Xena looked up and rolled her eyes. "I have Racha for that," she grumbled and threw her boots aside. She generously fell back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the gentle breeze wisp into the room.

Five months had gone by and Xena was definitely not up to her svelte figure anymore. It was obvious she was carrying a child now, especially if she wore her gowns, like she was currently. Gabrielle placed the tray on the bed and sat down next to Xena as she lay on her back with her eyes closed.

"I'm not going to eat this fruit by myself," Gabrielle bit into a grape and Xena opened her eyes, lolling her head to her blonde companion. She then sat up slowly and started eating some strawberries ravenously. Gabrielle stopped eating as she saw Xena devouring the fruit on the plate within a few short minutes. She suddenly had lost her appetite and cleared her throat, pouring some water in a glass for Xena. She cautiously handed the glass to her friend and once Xena had finished swallowing she downed the water.

Gabrielle blinked several times and Xena grinned sheepishly. "Hungry?" she asked the inevitable question.

Xena looked down at the empty fruit plate and felt a bit embarrassed. "sorry..." she mumbled. Gabrielle grinned and set the devoured fruit plate aside as she was not really that hungry anyway. "I never felt like this with Solan," she was beginning to feel frustrated as she constantly ate as opposed to a few months ago she wouldn't touch any food that was within her perimeters.

Gabrielle stifled a laugh and received a glare from the empress. She patted Xena's thigh gently, "it's alright, Xena. The good news is that you're eating, right?" she tried to look on the bright side of things.

Xena rolled her eyes at her friend, " _oh yeah_ , great news," she grinned sarcastically and laid back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "so Gabrielle. We need to talk about Octavius."

It was time for Gabrielle to roll her eyes. Truthfully she didn't want Xena to go to war with the Roman Empire as she feared something bad might happen to her. She understood that she was indeed an empress and controlled vast amounts of land, but she didn't understand why Egypt was so important to her especially right now. She had been on this battle kick for the last three months and she couldn't shake her of it. luckily, Xena's condition had prevented her from training one on one with her men. Gabrielle was thankful that Xena wouldn't endanger herself, but she still questioned her thirst for war –it could never be gotten rid of no matter how much crap she talked to her about. Xena refused to listen and insisted on slaying the Roman Empire, controlling Egypt as a whole once and for all.

"Do we really have to? I mean...you know what he's going to do, so what's there to talk about?" she chuckled nervously. Xena leaned on her elbows and glared at her. Gabrielle averted her friend's glare and saw Xena abruptly stand up and start pacing back and forth.

Xena held her hand on her lower back, supporting her weight and she continued pacing as she rubbed her chin pensively. "Knowing Octavius, he is going to attack on land not on sea, just like his dear father, Caesar," she felt the sour taste in her mouth as she mentioned his name. "He knows my army is coming for him," she nodded, grinning.

Gabrielle groaned and plopped down on the bed listening to Xena babbling on. "I must send scouts to survey his army in the deserts of Thrace and the Republic states," she concluded and held up her finger. "Oh and then I must draw up battle plans." She came to Gabrielle and leaned over her, her arms straddled next to Gabrielle's head. The blonde's eyes widened as she saw Xena leaning over her with giant blue eyes inches away from her face.

"You understood everything right Gabrielle?" she grinned.

Gabrielle nodded her head and Xena slowly stood up again letting out an exhausted sigh. "Do you even know when this war will happen? I mean, _look_ at you," she gestured to her current state. Xena looked down at her imminently growing child and back at her friend, understanding where she was coming from. She still had time though, three months maximum.

She sat down next to her and reassured her. "I promise I won't get in the way. I'll observe the battle from afar like I said I would," she grinned and saw a look of relief on Gabrielle's face. She was sure that Gabrielle was more worried about her than her herself. She suddenly hiccuped breaking the silence and Gabrielle snickered.

"That's what you get for eating so quickly," she said and got off the bed with a bit of step in her jump. "I'm going to take a much needed bath and then _I guess_...we can go over battle plans," she mumbled. Xena smiled and grabbed a fresh set of clothes to bathe as well and wash her sweat soaked hair.

* * *

Later in the evening Xena and Gabrielle sat together in a small dining room within the villa. Candles surrounded them and Racha along with a few maids were present during the meal, constantly refilling their glasses with wine and water. Xena had a map of Greece and the Roman Republic in front of her. She picked at her plate of cheese and fish with her fingers as Gabrielle continued to eat her first plate of food slowly. She saw Xena was definitely in a focused state as she circled some parts of the map and made notes on the side.

"What do you think of this idea, Gabrielle?" Xena asked of her advice and the blonde stumbled as the woman never asked for her advice when it came to things like this. Xena shook her head and scratched out her notes. "No never mind," she made separate notes and Gabrielle sighed. _This is going to be a long night._

Xena downed her water and handed her glass to Racha and continued writing on the map. She smiled smashing the quill down on the table. "Alright! I've got it, I think," she continued to second guess herself and almost picked up the pen again until Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand. They had been sitting there for two hours now and Xena was still eating, though Gabrielle finished a long time ago.

"I'm sure it's fine, Xena," Gabrielle stated through gritted teeth. She snatched the map away from Xena so she could prevent her from making any new corrections. The map was covered in black ink and she could barely make any sense of her plans. "so...where's the plans?" she asked subtly.

Xena pointed at the map. "See we are here in Athens, though my Navy is impeccable compared to the Romans, I don't believe he would use his Navy. Although since Phraates is with him, those Persians are quite good at sea battles." She hummed to herself, beginning to become fickle again.

Gabrielle held up her hand. "Okay, so you think both are going to use their naval fleets?" the empress nodded.

"I just want to be prepared," Xena smiled, leaning back in her chair comfortably as she continued to eat off her plate.

The blonde sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "Xena I'm having a hard time understanding your 'plans'," she air quoted.

Xena was growing frustrated at Gabrielle and grabbed the quill circling Rome, Cairo and Athens. "These are the three main points of the Mediterranean Sea. They control the majority of exports and imports. Octavius and Phraates will use these ports for weapons. I plan to block them with my Navy."

Gabrielle blinked. "You're going to blockade the ports? Since when did you decide to do this?" she asked a bit afraid to hear the answer.

"They're already there," Xena grinned. Gabrielle smacked her hand against her forehead.

"And when were you going to tell me about this? Xena, you know they're going to know it's you," Gabrielle said.

Xena sighed and snatched the map back, rolling it up no longer wishing to look at that disastrous thing. "I also control Egypt's grain." She looked to her friend's frightened face. "I'm trying to stop this war before it becomes too out of control," she grabbed Gabrielle's hand for reassurance.

"It sounds like you're trying to start a new one," Gabrielle mumbled to herself. Xena cocked her head to the side and stared at her blonde scribe.

"What was that?" Xena asked. Gabrielle smiled in return and said nothing, waving it off like it wasn't a problem. Xena sensed much doubt in Gabrielle's faith in her. "Gabrielle, you need to trust me. I know how to win wars." She felt an aching pain under her ribs and shifted in her chair trying to get comfortable. Gabrielle eyed her carefully and saw Xena was not comfortable in the very least.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Xena nodded and waved her hand dismissively. She stood up pushing her chair back from beneath her. "I'm going to bed. I am sending my scouts out tonight to the Republic States. Tomorrow I want you to come with me back to the palace." Gabrielle nodded and saw Xena round the corner going back to her room. She sighed and grabbed the map putting it back on the desk where all the other maps were kept in this villa.

Awhile later Gabrielle crept around the villa and saw Xena sleeping in her bed soundly. She hastily ran outside and asked the guards to open the gates. She hoped she would reach them in time. Running as fast as she could she saw a group of four scouts, dressed in all black, wearing masks to hide their identities.

She caught up with them just about when they were leaving. She whispered to them all and handed them a note. They nodded their heads and mounted their horses, riding off into the night. She huffed and looked up at Xena's bedroom window in the villa and saw the candles were still lit. quickly, Gabrielle ran back into the villa to go to her room before she was noticed by anyone or by Xena, though she was asleep.

Passing by her bedroom again she saw Xena still asleep and she thanked the gods for that. Returning to her room she laid in bed, staring at the ceiling questioning what she had just done was the right thing to do. She feared that Morpheus would not grant her sleep tonight.

**AN: and what exactly is Gabrielle up to?**


	38. Chapter 38

**AN: There's a lot going on in this chapter. Old problems arise for Xena and company. I'm glad I have decided to continue this arc. Ares' concern will come to rise in this chapter as a guest finally arrives. Enjoy and good luck ;)**

_Chapter 36_

Xena and Gabrielle traveled by horseback to get back to the palace. It would take them a couple of hours to reach her fortress and in the meantime Gabrielle stayed quiet through their journey back from the training grounds. She had been with Xena for the last two months on and off, occasionally going back to the palace to help Solan as she was sure he felt overwhelmed at times. She admired Xena for her will to keep fighting for what was hers and her people seemed happier now that they had stable jobs and their families reunited once again after many years apart. Gabrielle also wanted to tell Xena what she did but she wondered what her reaction would be. Her mood constantly shifted from day to day or sometimes within a split second if something didn't go according to Xena's plans. Xena wanted to be on top of everything and she didn't want to be left out of any new ideas or plans that came her way.

Gabrielle rode alongside Xena on a brown stallion. She looked over at Xena who seemed to be a good mood so far, she hated to ruin that but she had to tell her what she did last night. She was thinking of using Solan as a human shield against Xena if things went south, but that was just a thought. Xena's elite guards rode behind them at a fair distance keeping an eye on things. They seemed to form a half circle as they rode their horses, to protect their empress, of course.

Xena wore a floor length turquoise gown with long mesh sleeves, exposing her shoulders. Her hair remained a problem as it was quite long again so she had it in a half up half down style, allowing the heaviest part of her hair to hang loosely on her back. Gabrielle stared at Xena as they slowly made their way through the empty forest.

"Did you sleep well?" Gabrielle asked, trying to make small conversation. Xena looked to her and smiled with a slight nod.

"I did, but I woke up a few times," she smirked. "Every time I want to sleep it seems that Eve does not want to."

Gabrielle smiled at that. She saw a side of Xena she'd never thought she'd see and she was truly happy, though determination in her eyes did not go unnoticed. The nearing battle between the Roman Empire and Xena's Grecian Empire weighed heavily on Gabrielle's mind. She was sure that it did not bother Xena as she seemed very calm and collected about it these last few months, but she couldn't pinpoint her emotions towards the battle. Xena appeared to be calm, but she figured that inside, she was a mess and quite nervous. Gabrielle began to notice small things about Xena that she hadn't noticed before since they had been together. Xena often bit her bottom lip and unconsciously scratched certain parts of her body when she became nervous. The most noticeable thing she did when she was anxious or annoyed was to fidget her fingers back and forth in her lap or behind her back. If she was truly angry she didn't say anything and kept a blank face, that was obvious to Gabrielle, or Xena might lash out if something did not go her way, especially if it hindered something else she had in mind. Although, she found out that Xena always had a plan B when plan A didn't work out, something she ought to learn from her in the future.

* * *

Awhile later they arrived at the palace and Gabrielle followed Xena as they strode into the palace's entrance. All the children were in their first class for the day. Xena looked around, surveying the area and waltzed onward to her office.

Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand halting her from walking to her office. "Xena I need to tell you something," she said in a small hushed voice. Xena stopped and smiled at her. She turned to face her and awaited for her explanation.

"I did something last night," she began and saw Xena's eyebrows rise into her thick bangs. She continued, "I told your scouts to go in separate directions to the blockades you told me about during dinner." Gabrielle noticed the lowered eyelids on Xena and slight downward motion of her lips. "And I told one of them to find Borias to aid in the blockade of Cairo's port..." she finished and found herself nervously laughing as she saw Xena's lips turn into a dark frown and her irises enlarge at this news. Xena's nostrils flared slightly and she folded her arms, pushing her shoulders back. Gabrielle felt immediately so small next to Xena.

Xena cleared her throat and smiled impatiently at her blonde companion. "And why did you do that, Gabrielle?" her voice calm, yet her body awaited an explosion.

"Well I thought that Borias could help since he has a small army following him and I know he'd be happy to help you..." Gabrielle mumbled those last few words, feeling Xena's anger rising as she stood in front of her. "Look Xena, I just didn't like the idea of you blockading all those ports without any support and I was..." she paused. "I was upset that you didn't include me in your plans!" she spat and Xena took a step forward, closing in on the little space they had between them.

The empress rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, channeling her anger as best as she could. "Gabrielle..." she said lowly. "I _know_ what I am doing!" her voice rose as she couldn't contain her anger any longer. "I have been doing this for many years and I don't need you going behind my back telling my scouts what to do! They're very well trained!" she yelled.

Gabrielle frowned and stepped closer to the empress. "Well, all you've done is created more problems than needed and I wanted to help but since you won't let me, what am I supposed to do?!" she yelled back.

Xena waved her finger in Gabrielle's face, "I'll tell you what you can do! You can just –"

"Are you two fighting?" Solan interrupted their little dispute and both women looked at him.

"No!"

"Yes!"

Xena and Gabrielle looked to one another, feeling their differences were well known to one another. Both folded their arms and stared at each other in silence as Solan watched from a few feet away.

Solan walked closer and saw his mother glaring at Gabrielle from the side. "You are friends, you shouldn't be fighting," he said and Gabrielle looked to Xena with a frown and Xena copied the expression easily. She eyed his mother and realized he didn't get to greet her properly, but wasn't sure if he really wanted to now.

"Mother," he stretched out his hand to her and she stopped glaring at Gabrielle, completely forgetting about her son for the moment. She grinned slightly and hugged him tightly. "I haven't seen you in a long time," he smiled, holding her hands tightly. His eyes traveled down and he felt the need to ask, "how are you doing?" his voice filled with concern.

Xena brushed his cheek gently with her palm, "I'm fine, but I want to know how you are doing. It seems you have done quite well for yourself here," she scanned the area and saw many children being lined up for the second class of the morning.

Solan nodded, "yeah, Gabrielle put me in charge of all her classes," he beamed. He glanced at a still pensive Gabrielle behind Xena and it was obvious she was still upset at his mother. She didn't like to see the two of them fight. He had grown to really like Gabrielle and admired her knowledge and wisdom as well as his mother's ambition and determination to do whatever she wills. His eyes met his mother's and he sighed heavily. "I don't want you two to fight. You're supposed to love each other –friends don't fight."

Xena turned her head back to her blonde companion and instantly crinkled her nose. "Friends don't do things behind their backs," she left and stormed up the stairs, picking up her gown, marching onward. Gabrielle rolled her eyes as she saw Xena retreat to her bedroom in a tantrum. Solan rubbed his forehead as the tension escalated between his mother and his now friend.

"Gabrielle, why is mother so upset?" he asked genuinely concerned.

Gabrielle groaned, "because something I did," she smiled patting his shoulder. "Don't worry about it Solan. Just go teach your class. I will handle it," she reassured him and head up to Xena's room. He watched her leave and sighed. _I hope so, Gabrielle_.

* * *

Gabrielle opened Xena's door without permission and saw her pacing in her room. The moment their eyes locked Xena frowned, narrowing her eyes. "How could you do that?" she immediately asked and Gabrielle closed the door behind them, locking it so no one could disturb them. Xena continued pacing back and forth with one arm folded as she nervously bit her fingernails.

"I was just trying to help!" Gabrielle combated.

Xena set her arms down by her sides. "Well you shouldn't have!" she spat.

Gabrielle groaned throwing her hands in the air. "Xena!" she yelled. "Why don't you want me to help you? I can help but you refuse to let me. You've been on this battle escapade for the last three months and have kept me in the dark about it all." She sighed heavily, "why won't you let me help you?"

Xena remained quiet and that was Gabrielle's cue to continue. She felt her frustration boil inside her. She had never been truly angry at Xena, but today she was. She had had enough of Xena's behavior towards her, keeping her on the back burner for the last few months like it was nothing. She had thought that Xena was just trying to be protective but she wasn't –she was being secretive and she didn't like it.

"You're not doing this alone, you know," Gabrielle paced in front of Xena as she stood still watching her intently. "You don't have to," her voice softened. "I'm here to help you, yet you shut me out...why?" she saw Xena's irate expression change to a guilty one in a split second. "Xena, please stop shutting me out, please?" she begged.

She came close to her and held her hands in hers, staring into those glacial eyes. Xena sighed hanging her head low to the ground. "I –I wasn't trying to shut you out, Gabrielle." She lifted her head slowly to stare at her blonde friend. "I know you have great ideas, but I guess...I was too caught up in the battle that I just thought of winning and nothing else." Gabrielle smiled knowing that Xena always loved a good battle and had great strategies but it had been awhile since she had fought in a battle, and this time it would be different because she was here... _with_ her. Xena brought her hands to her face, feeling ashamed of her erratic behavior. "I'm sorry," she said softly. Gabrielle uncovered Xena's face and kissed her hand gingerly. "This brought back so many memories of my past and I just thought of how many chances and opportunities I had and lost them all, because I was foolish in my strategies. I want to win for peace, I don't want to win out of hate."

Gabrielle nodded now understanding Xena's feelings tied in with this impending battle. She really wanted to win, but she wasn't sure of her intentions before. Perhaps a year ago if this battle were to happen Xena wouldn't have cared of other's lives and killed everyone without remorse, but this time was different. She had changed and definitely saw it in her eyes. She was no longer the murdering tyrant that had been called throughout her life, she was working for the greater good.

"Perhaps," the blonde suggested, "you are going about this war all wrong." She saw Xena crease her brows in confusion and sat down on her bed, placing her hands in her lap staring at Gabrielle. "why is it that you want control of all North Africa? Would it be so bad to let Octavius have it?"

Xena shook her head defying Gabrielle's words instantly. "No, I'd rather die than let that Roman take control over those lands."

"Your empire is growing quickly and your people love you. You are not a conqueror _anymore_ Xena..." she finally said those words aloud, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders.

"But if I let the Roman Empire expand...I will lose control of mine and then he'll be coming for me next," Xena admitted, feeling that sense of hate come back to her again. She huffed, "Gabrielle, I can change Africa. I can bring peace to those people there just as I have here in Greece and Persia. I can't change that if I sit here and do nothing."

Gabrielle understood where she was coming from but she needed a better plan and training her men to death was obviously not the key. Her impromptu blockades of Cairo and Rome were sure to cause a disturbance in the Roman's battle plans. A blockade wouldn't be so bad but it would be better if she approached it a different way, instead of creating conflict. She suddenly had an idea.

"I need some parchment and a quill," Gabrielle smiled and went to search through Xena's desk in her room to find something to write on. Xena raised her eyebrow, eyeing her friend closely, not exactly sure what she was doing. She returned and sat on the floor writing rapidly. Xena squinted her eyes as she sat on the bed, watching her scribble down quickly dipping the quill in the ink.

Finally she handed the parchment to Xena and she took it cautiously. She examined the piece of parchment and read it carefully. "A negotiation?" she asked and Gabrielle nodded.

"If you want to win peacefully this will be your best bet. See you already have some of your men at each port ready for the Romans and Persians. You will negotiate a tax with Octavius and Phraates."

"Tax their weapons?" Xena grinned liking this idea better than her original plan. She crinkled her nose. "But how will I win if this is just a negotiation? You don't even know if they will comply with the tax."

Gabrielle smiled nodding her head. "Oh they will or you cut off their grain supply," she added and Xena smiled at her friend.

"Gabrielle, you are wonderful," she bent down and hugged her friend closely and Gabrielle coughed as the embrace tightened. Immediately she stood up and grabbed her sword and Gabrielle turned to see Xena with a blade in her hand. "I'm in the mood for a sparring exercise," her eyes widened.

Gabrielle's mouth gaped and she got up off the floor in a hurry to chase after Xena. "That's not exactly what I had in mind!" she called out.

* * *

_Rome_

Octavius had received a letter from Athens and he could only guess who it was from. Thanking his guard he opened the wax seal and read it with a frown on his lips. "A tax on our weapons? Is she out of her mind?" he yelled and threw the letter on his desk, flaying his hands around and began to pace around in his tent. Tiberius folded his arms shaking his head.

"Are you going to comply with the tax, sir?" he asked and the young Caesar shook his head.

"Of course not, Tiberius! She is mad." He sat down in his chair and his right hand man looked over the letter carefully and eyed his commander with worry in his eyes.

"But sir she will cut off our grain supply if we don't agree," he stated. He had his run ins with Xena a few times and though she was quite menacing, she was very smart. If she was willing to give them a treaty he thought that his commander should comply willingly or else.

Octavius was about to combat his general until a guard came in saluting him. "Sir, there's a Navy fleet surrounding our port and men. They appear to be Greek ships." The Roman Emperor frowned and hurried out of his tent to see for himself. As he stood on the edge of the cliff he saw Xena's Grecian ships surrounding his port and his men. There were at least thirty ships and he knew they'd be armed with explosives. He saw the ships' sails had the Greek eye on them and he cursed to himself.

Tiberius joined his commander and saw the ships shaking his head. "Shall we comply with her negotiation now sir?"

Octavius growled at the situation he was put in. "She has me wedged in between her slimy fingers, Tiberius. Get the scribe to write back to Xena," he smiled. "I shall crush the Thracian Empress. She is just taunting me," he scoffed at the large ships circling in closer to his port. In the middle of the thirty ships he saw a general wearing a helm with a large black plume similar to Xena's battle helmet. He knew Xena wasn't stupid enough to be on one of those ships. He figured she was hiding out in her palace back in Athens.

"Tell her that I will agree to the tax if she backs off my port." Octavius snapped his fingers and swung his cape around heading back to his tent. Tiberius saw the ships raise their sails higher as they neared the port. They were about thirty miles away, coming out of the fog of the early morning. He sighed and followed the emperor back to the tent.

* * *

_Cairo_

Phraates was stationed in Cairo guarding the Nile in a house by the Mediterranean Sea. He looked out his window and stopped drinking his wine. He squinted from the bright sun and saw a fleet of ships coming towards the Nile. They were about a hundred miles away but they were coming in quite quickly. Running down the stairs he ran towards the port and looked closer with a telescope and focused his eye on the sails and saw the Greek eye staring back at him. He gasped. "Greek Naval fleet!" he yelled and started commanding his men to get ready for an attack.

The Romans started scattering as soon as they saw the large ships approaching quickly. They began gathering up their swords and battle gear. Phraates had never felt so much fear in his life. He saw there must have been twenty ships and noticed they started spreading out alongside the coast. His general came running towards him a bit breathless and handed him a letter with Xena's famous wax seal and he eyed the ships again before ripping the letter open.

Reading it his anxiety rose through the roof. "A tax on weapons? Does the Emperor know about this?" he asked his general but he didn't know. He grunted and ran to the deck of the port with his telescope and focused on the general in the middle of the fleet. He almost expected Xena to be alongside him but she was nowhere in sight. Frowning he tucked the letter in his coat pocket.

"Send word to the emperor. I won't comply with Xena's demands without his permission!" he demanded and saw his general in a bit of a daze. "Yalla!" he shooed him away and the general ran to contact the nearest scribe in the port. He looked through the telescope's eye and saw the ships were nearing in. He heard loud horns coming from Xena's ships and he cursed. "Xena, what are you up to?" he questioned.

* * *

_Athens_

Xena sat in her office and it had been two weeks since she had sent word out to Octavius about the treaty. Gabrielle hastily ran in the room with a letter in her hands. She stopped her work and stood up anxiously hoping it was from the emperor himself.

Gabrielle stretched out her hand and Xena took the letter ripping it open and a smile came to her lips. "He has agreed to meet with me to discuss the tax." Gabrielle nodded her head wiping her forehead from the marathon she had just done to get to her office.

"I will come with you," Gabrielle said and saw Xena's apprehension. "I'm not letting you go alone."

Xena smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Gabrielle," she brushed the backside of her hand on her friend's cheek gently. She fled out of her office and ran down the hallway immediately alerting her elite guards to accompany her. They agreed and started gathering the supplies for the long trip to Rome. After that she hastily walked down the hall picking up her black gown desperately trying to find Solan. She peered in every classroom and grunted, walking further down the halls to find him.

After checking a few rooms she approached Solan as he was in the middle of an art class with four students. "Solan, a word?" she interrupted breathlessly. Solan looked to his confused students and nodded to his mother leaving his station.

He met her outside the room, "mother, what's wrong?" he examined her and saw she was breathing heavily. "Are you alright? Has something happened?"

Xena shook her head. "I am going to Rome with Gabrielle. I will be back as soon as I finish business there."

Solan nodded, "you mean you're going to see my uncle?" he said in a low voice. Xena showcased a softened smile. He straightened his shoulders, "I'll go with you."

Xena smiled shaking her head, "no Solan I need you here to be with the children." She saw the disappointed look on her son's face. She cupped his cheeks looking into his dark eyes. "I'm counting on you." He sighed, nodding his head unwillingly. She kissed his forehead, "I love you."

"I love you too mother," he watched her saunter away and he called out. "Be careful!"

Xena smiled at him turning her head over her shoulder. "Always," she continued onward and rounded the corner. As she came around the corner to the entrance of the palace she saw a guest talking with her elite guard. Her eyes widened and now she didn't know what to do or how to act any longer.

She tread closer as Borias' eyes locked with hers. He stopped chatting with the guard and came inside the palace uncovering his head from his hood. He scanned her body and saw her hair was long again and she was...carrying a child? Perplexed he approached her carefully.

"Gabrielle...sent word that you needed my help," his eyes constantly reverting back to her swollen abdomen and Xena folded her arms. He raised his eyebrow and saw the flushed cheeks on Xena. "Do you want to explain _this_ to me?" he asked a bit defensively.

Xena didn't really have time for this at the moment nor did she want to explain the entire Ares catastrophe to Borias either. "I don't really have time to explain, Borias, but yes I need your help. And never would I have thought I'd hear myself say those words," she mumbled. He still had a shocked look in his eyes and she groaned. "Stop staring at me!" He recognized that tone before and learned a long time ago to back away and not question her.

He fumbled and began rubbing the back of his head. His hand gestured to the child she carried, "...how?" he nervously laughed.

"Later, Borias," she hissed no longer wanting this to become an issue between them. She started to leave for her office to keep discussing in there then she saw Solan come out of the classroom with his students. She grabbed Borias' hand forcing him to tag along with her. He skipped head to keep with her and saw Solan standing next to a bunch of children, talking to them with a firm but soft voice.

"Solan" Xena interrupted and he dismissed the children and they quietly left the scene. He saw his mother with that same dark haired man that came to the palace a few months ago. He stared at him with nervous eyes and he eyed his mother. Xena's eyes glanced over at Borias and saw the same look she had when she met Solan for the first time face to face back in Rome. "I don't want any more secrets between us Solan, like I promised you," she said and her son slowly nodded his head.

"Alright...what's this all about?" he eyed Borias and saw he matched his mother in almost equal height, though she was a few inches shorter than he.

Xena sighed, "I told you that you had a father..." she began and met eyes with Borias, gently pushing him forward to get this moving along to speed things up as she was in a bit of a time crunch. "Solan, this is Borias. Your father," she smugly smiled as she saw the shocked look on their son's face.

Solan stepped forward taking a good look at this man that was indeed his father. "I've seen you before." Borias sheepishly grinned and Xena still had that smug look written all over her face. "Why didn't you tell me sooner, mother?" Solan said a bit annoyed.

"There wasn't really a good time, Solan. I'll make sure you two can catch up later, but I really...need your father right now," she smiled tightly and grabbed Borias' hand turning in the other direction. He kept looking back at Solan's puzzled face.

"Way to drop a bomb on the child, Xena," he grunted and Xena rolled her eyes hastily making her way to her office where Gabrielle was still, organizing she bet.

* * *

Gabrielle saw Xena enter her office with Borias and she blinked at the unexpected guest. "Oh you're here..." she said putting scrolls into a bag as well as a few other needed supplies. "...the two of you," she said in perplexity.

Xena nodded skipping all the formalities and turned to Borias, nervously scratching her neck. Gabrielle did not let that get unnoticed. "So, let us talk about the plans, shall we?" she suggested. "Borias, how are you able to help me if you...still want to that is," she admitted shyly.

Borias folded his arms. "I heard you blockaded Cairo and Rome. I expected as much coming from you," he chuckled. "I have few men but enough to aid in the front of your army, if that's what you want," he negotiated.

Gabrielle interjected, "we have a training facility not far from the palace where the army trains. Xena and I have to go to Rome for a short time. Maybe you could oversee the training while we're gone?" she asked hopeful that he'd agree.

Borias suddenly felt the same as she did when Xena was pregnant with Solan and she turned around their ship from Cyprus to Rome to meet with Caesar. The memory was still embedded in his mind and it was happening all over again, though that _child_...he didn't know where it came from, but nevertheless, he felt the need to talk her out of it so she wouldn't repeat her past mistakes. He looked into Xena's eyes and saw they were not filled with a burning desire to kill, but to solve the impending conflict between her and the Roman Empire.

"I want a word alone with Xena," he said and Gabrielle eyed her friend. Xena frowned at her ex-lover and nodded her head for Gabrielle to leave the room. The blonde eyed them carefully and gathered the supplies to head out shortly.

As soon as they were alone Xena folded her arms. "Well you have me alone, what is it?" she demanded.

Borias eyed her and came closer to her. She scanned his body careful of his lack of distance. "Why are you going to Rome?" he asked concerned for her well being.

Xena sighed, "I must meet with Octavius to discuss the tax treaty I sent to him and then –"

"You remember the last time you went to Rome?" he said seriously with his finger in her face. She smacked his finger away from her and circled around her desk, leaning her palms on the edge of the table.

"Yes I remember that day perfectly!" she raised her voice. "I was betrayed and my men were slaughtered by Caesar." She sighed and stared at Borias' focused eyes. "I'm not going there to fight. This is different."

Borias threw his hands in the air and began rubbing his chin as he paced quickly. "Xena you always do this. You always think about yourself before anyone else," he grinned shaking his head at his ex-lover's arrogance. Xena frowned feeling her temper beginning to come out to play. "Nobody knows you better than I do, Xena. You'll always be the same person you always were."

Xena banged her fist on the desk and he stopped pacing, staring at her flushed face. He saw that he had angered her and so easily too. "I didn't ask you to come here and give me a lecture on my past behavior, Borias!" she smiled angrily. "I didn't really ask you to come here at all. You can thank Gabrielle for that little invitation," she spat.

He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands feeling his frustration towards Xena rise slowly the more she spoke. It was fifteen years ago all over again and she was as stubborn as ever especially when she was pregnant, he definitely remembered that. Xena sensed his aggravation towards her and knew exactly why he felt this way –he was feeling like it was déjà vu.

"Borias..." she sighed, "I understand why you're upset with me, but I am not going to make the same mistakes I made all those years ago. I'm smarter now and more clear minded. I have Gabrielle to thank for that," a smile slipped on her lips and Borias caught that slick smile of hers. Though it wasn't cold, it was actually...filled with warmth.

He seemed to be satisfied with Xena's explanation but still felt an uneasiness with letting Xena go alone to Rome with Gabrielle. He almost wanted to suggest to come with her but knew that would probably start an unneeded fight and he didn't want that. He wanted to be on good terms with Xena as they weren't in the last decade. Truthfully he didn't think he'd ever speak to her again face to face as long as Solan kept living in Rome going unnoticed by her. He just had to ask one thing that danced around in his mind as long as he had Xena alone to himself.

"Who's child is that?" he asked and saw Xena shift her eyes elsewhere.

"Must we revisit that conversation?" Xena started feeling drained with all these emotions swirling around in her mind. She sat down at her desk letting her exhaustion get the best of her. Borias stepped forward and leaned on her desk, though she dare not look up.

Borias grinned knowingly. "I have time for a story, Xena," he saw her eyes glance upwards at his and she sighed heavily, scratching her head. He noticed that she did that a lot even when he was with her all those years ago when she was anxious about something.

* * *

_Gods, what is taking them so long?_ Gabrielle sighed as she kept handing supplies to Xena's elite guard. She thought that they would have come outside already or at least Xena would have. She had been loading the horses for half an hour by herself now and wanted to just barge in the office, but wisely chose not to.

Solan ran towards Gabrielle outside of the palace's entrance. He handed her a heavy back and she thanked him kindly and handed it to the guard. "Gabrielle, did you know about my father? Borias, I mean..." he asked.

The blonde shook her head, "sorry? What?" then it donned on her. "Oh yes. Yes, I've met him before. He's come to help Xena and I with the war against the Romans," she said handing the last bag of supplies to the men.

Solan quirked his mouth to the side and sighed. "Is he a good person?"

Gabrielle smiled, "why don't you find out for yourself? Xena and I are _supposed_ to be leaving soon for Rome. He's going to stay here and train the soldiers while we're gone." She started walking towards Argo and adjusting the saddle for Xena.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you or to mother," he stood beside her as she kept checking out Argo.

Gabrielle reassured him, "don't worry Solan, nothing will happen to us. I'll make sure to take good care of her for you," she smiled and Solan nodded, grinning in return, happy to hear that. _Hurry up, Xena_.

* * *

After Xena had finished explaining the story about Ares she felt relieved that the worst was over. She skipped a few parts especially making sure to leave the part out about Petracles, but she told him about Eve and how Ares misconstrued her entire past life into some sick game for pleasure and to obtain the chakram. He noticed that the weapon was now a part of her and hung at her hip on her gown.

She impatiently tapped her foot as she felt she had been in here far too long and Gabrielle was waiting for her outside to leave for Rome. Borias tapped his cheek and then stared intensely at Xena. She was caught off guard and leaned back in her chair, folding her hands in her lap. "What?" she questioned.

"I thought it was just a dream," he said softly and Xena listened more closely now.

"What are you saying?" she laced her fingers on her desk, furrowing her eyebrows.

He stared at Xena and then stood at the edge of the table. "I had the same... _vision_ as you, but I wasn't physically present like you were." Xena frowned and immediately felt her blood pressure rising as she thought of Ares once more. Only he would think of something like that. She then thought of Petracles and wondered if he had seen the same thing she did in that alternate reality, but then maybe not, because she found out he died five years after she left his army to create her own. Ares had royally screwed up in his little plan and it was coming back to bite him in the ass. Perhaps Borias saw the same thing because he was still alive and since Petracles was dead, he was not effected like Borias was.

"that child...blue eyes and black hair like yours, of course," Borias stated with a small grin. He instantly thought of something that all made sense when he came to see Xena a few months ago and saw that doll from Qin next to her bed. "that doll, I knew I recognized it from somewhere before."

Xena couldn't wrap her head around this mess that Ares had created. He had always been very messy when he toyed with the Fates, but she never thought he'd be _this_ irresponsible. She suddenly didn't feel so awkward around Borias and was able to share the same things he felt. She tried to explain what happened to Gabrielle in the best possible way but she never truly understood that pain that followed her. Now she carried Eve within her thanks to the grace of Aphrodite, a second chance, which she felt the need to thank her for that. She wanted to have a relationship with her daughter and not the one that haunted her in her sleep when she thought of that horrible alternate dreamscape.

"So where do we go from here?" Xena asked feeling nervous she bit her bottom lip.

Borias sighed and felt a bit conflicted at the moment. He stared down at Eve within Xena and remembered when she carried Solan fifteen years ago. She was determined as ever, he knew that and he definitely couldn't stop her as she always did what she wanted when she wanted. "I'm going to help you like I agreed to do," he smiled and Xena nodded, tears swelling in her eyes. He stared into her blue eyes and saw tears. He hardly ever saw Xena cry or even came close to it except when she decided to give up Solan as a babe. He didn't want to draw attention to her tears as she wiped her eyes and he simply grinned at her, ignoring her sudden emotions coming to rise.

Xena left her office and he followed behind her. She met Gabrielle outside and she looked very annoyed.

Gabrielle threw her hands in the air and groaned. "I was about to come and get you. I thought something happened to you!" she saw Borias standing at the entrance of the palace and Xena mounted Argo.

"Did you two get things settled?" Gabrielle asked and saw Xena stare at Borias and smiled in his direction.

"Yes I think so." She kicked Argo and began riding off with Gabrielle beside her.

The exited the palace and Xena looked back one more time and saw Borias still standing there leaning against the stone wall. She smiled one more time and continued trotting along the trail. Gabrielle noticed the grin on her friend's face and caught up with her as she stared back at Borias.

"What exactly did you two talk about?"

Xena rested her hand on Eve, feeling small flutters against her palm. "A lot of things Gabrielle."

Gabrielle scoffed, "well are you going to tell me about it?" she said as they continued to ride beyond the palace.

"That is a conversation for the campfire, Gabrielle," she smiled and commanded Argo to race faster through the forest allowing Gabrielle to fall a bit behind.

She sighed and kicked her horse and caught up with her companion, curious to hear this story.


	39. Chapter 39

**AN: school has started here and I will be leaving for awhile so I thought I'd post this until next time. Some Gabrielle/Xena fluff here and an impending battle between Rome and Greece rises. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 37_

Gabrielle had suggested that they stop and make camp since they had been riding for two days now and were on the outskirts of Italia. At least another day and a half until they reach Rome, she wanted to be sure that Xena would be alert and ready for this negotiation with the young Caesar. Four guards attended the two women and brought three tents in case there would be bad weather, which this evening there was. Gabrielle returned to their campsite as the rain had just started to come down. She came into Xena's tent and saw she was sitting in the middle of her tent with her eyes closed. Carefully she took off her boots and ran her fingers through her now damp hair.

She took another step closer and saw Xena in some kind of trance or she was asleep...sitting up? Gabrielle knelt down and squinted her eyes staring at Xena's serene face. Xena felt Gabrielle's presence closing in and she tried to keep her concentration level up, ignoring Gabrielle as she felt her eyes staring at her. Xena reached out to the side and caught a dragon fly in her hand and Gabrielle gasped. She thought she was going to be hit for sure.

Xena opened her eyes and smiled at Gabrielle. "Don't get too close to me Gabrielle. I was trying to achieve ultimate stillness," she wiggled her fingers and let the dead creature slide off her palm. She wiped her hand on a cloth and sighed.

Gabrielle nodded her head, "right...you do that," she looked to Xena who seemed to be at complete ease with herself. She unwrapped the bag around her shoulder and sat down in front of her warrior friend with a smug smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Xena asked skeptically.

She scooted closer "I bought something for you," Gabrielle saw the obvious skepticism in Xena's eyes but knew that she would definitely like what she got her. She unwrapped the two items and presented a bag of dates and a bowl of yogurt. Xena's eyebrows disappeared in her bangs and she looked to Gabrielle with a smirk.

"Why did you get this for me?" she questioned but did not refuse the fruit and yogurt that her friend brought her. She bit into the dried fruit and Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders.

"I know you really like dates. Do you need an explanation for everything? Sheesh," she stood up and Xena smirked, dipping some bread in the yogurt generously. Gabrielle went for the wine and immediately poured a glass and also brought some water for her questionable friend sitting by herself in the middle of the large tent. She sat down, folding her legs and watched as Xena spit out the date pits into a bowl. Her eyebrow raised and Xena looked up to see Gabrielle staring at her.

"What?" Xena said, her cheeks reddening. Gabrielle shook her head and continued sipping her wine observing how quickly Xena was able to get around the date seeds and spit them out graciously. She folded her arms and Xena seemed to not notice until the blonde laughed lightly. Xena wiped her fingers on a cloth and saw Gabrielle with quite a smirk on her lips. She grinned and drank some water.

Gabrielle sighed, "so Borias knows about Eve?" she questioned. Xena was able to tell Gabrielle the gist of the conversation she had with Borias last evening. She didn't dance around any details but Borias didn't say much about Eve, except that he knew what she looked like, just as did she. "That's so strange isn't it?" Gabrielle wrinkled her nose and Xena swayed her head side to side considering that it may be strange, but she had seen many strange things in her life and Eve wasn't one of them.

"No stranger than you staring at me while I eat this," Xena said with a smirk as she ate the yogurt covered bread. Gabrielle's eyebrows creased and she scooted away from her friend, allowing her some space. She wasn't really sure if she was being serious or not, but she wasn't about to wait and find out.

Gabrielle finished her wine and Xena was still working on the fruit in front of her. She didn't think she'd be able to finish that amount of dates but she had already gone through half the bag already. "So, have you thought about what you're going to do when the baby arrives?" she asked and Xena looked up at her friend.

"I –I haven't really had time to think about that," she sighed heavily and licked her fingers. Gabrielle smiled, leaning back on a large pillow resting her hands behind her head. "You need to start thinking about it, Xena. The time is nearing," she responded and saw the empress scratch her neck anxiously. "Can you stop doing that?" she commanded.

Xena looked to Gabrielle and was completely oblivious. "Stop what?"

"Scratching like a dog every time you're nervous. You make me itchy just looking at you do it," Gabrielle unconsciously started scratching her knee.

Xena realized she was indeed scratching her neck and she slowly slid her hand down feeling embarrassed. She went back to her fruit and paid no attention to Gabrielle as she was now scratching her legs. She looked up and saw the blonde scratching herself. "You can't tell me to stop scratching if you're allowed to do it!" she yelled.

Gabrielle groaned, "this is all your fault," she scratched her face and Xena laughed at her friend. She then started to feel a bit more like something was crawling on her and that was what was making her itchy. Xena saw that she wasn't stopping and a frown appeared on her lips. "Gabrielle?" she wiped her hands and crawled over to her friend, taking off her coat she saw red patches on her skin. Xena's eyes widened and got up off the floor going to her bag to get some herbs she always carried with her.

A half hour later Gabrielle sat in the middle of the tent with this green herbal concoction Xena spread all over her skin and she groaned, still feeling the need to scratch her skin. Xena chuckled and sat at a fair distance from her friend, still eating the dates. "You should really watch where you're going in these forests, Gabrielle. We're not in Greece anymore," she smiled as she saw the blonde's sudden agitation rise.

"When can I take this stuff off?" Gabrielle asked and tried to rub her arms together but Xena smacked her hand away. She winced and rubbed her arm trying to relieve the stinging sensation. "How come you didn't get it then?" she began scratching her face and Xena threw a date at Gabrielle to make her stop.

"Stop touching yourself Gabrielle!" she demanded and the blonde stopped, letting out an exacerbated sigh. Gabrielle folded her arms and stared as Xena was off in her own corner about five feet away from her. "you're _welcome_ ," Gabrielle said gesturing to the food that she brought her.

Xena smiled, "thanks Gabrielle. That was very nice of you," she eyed her friend and saw her finger scratching her inner thigh. "Stop it!" she yelled and the blonde immediately retracted her finger, sitting still as board.

A few minutes later Xena was finishing the fruit faster than Gabrielle had anticipated and she was still sitting in the tent with the goop all over her arms, face and legs. She had to try really hard not to touch any part of her body especially since Xena was watching her like a hawk.

"When we get back..." Gabrielle huffed in frustration as her skin burned. "we should have a room ready for the baby," she groaned and Xena looked at her friend struggling to fight the itch, though she couldn't disagree with what she was saying.

"you're right, Gabrielle," she nodded and began chewing on a date anxiously. "I really want her to have everything that I wasn't able to give Solan or that my mother wasn't able to give me." She concluded to herself as Gabrielle listened intently. She dipped the bread into the yogurt and her eyes grew in fear. "What if I don't know what to do if she doesn't stop crying? What if something happens to her like she gets sick or something and I don't know how to handle it?" she sighed as her eyes began to stare straight forward beyond Gabrielle.

Gabrielle listened to all of Xena's 'what if's' and she was becoming irritated listening to the woman second guess herself. "Xena!" she called out and the empress stopped speaking for just a moment. "I can't believe I'm saying this at a time like this but...you need to **relax**!" she wanted to come and hold Xena's hands but then realized she was covered in this slime and stayed back.

Xena nodded her head, " _relax_ ," she repeated. Gabrielle sighed and saw Xena continuing to eat the dates in a trance.

"you shouldn't stress yourself out too much," Gabrielle stated holding her hands up, "it's not good for the baby," she grinned. Xena looked to her green slime covered friend and nodded, trying to take her seriously.

The raven haired warrior woman breathed out slowly. "Alright, no stress, because that's what's best for the baby," she smiled and Gabrielle smiled in return nodding her head. She finished off the yogurt and bread and rubbed her hands together getting rid of the crumbs. She then stood up and brushed her black gown down with her fingers and stared at her blonde friend with a mischievous grin. "Now let's get that stuff off of you, shall we?" Gabrielle didn't like the look on Xena's face but followed her anyway.

After Xena had scrubbed the herbal slime off Gabrielle's skin she washed her hands in the basin of water in the tent and sat down on the blankets. Gabrielle picked off some dead skin and sat down next to Xena on the blankets. The warrior woman yawned and laid down, feeling her fatigue overcome her body.

"Ready for bed already?" Gabrielle said as she made a disgusted face at the dead skin she kept peeling off.

"Yes but that means," she held up her finger, "Eve knows I'm going to sleep which means she will not," she said in a playful voice.

Gabrielle smiled slyly, "I wish I could tell her to stop and go to sleep."

"Even if you could, I don't think she'd listen," Xena smiled and closed her eyes pulling the blankets over her body, adjusting her position on her side. Gabrielle started chuckling under her breath. "Like mother like daughter," she mumbled and laid down as both their backs faced one another. Xena reached over behind her and slapped Gabrielle on her hip and the blonde gasped.

"Ow!" she frowned, rubbing her hip and turned to see Xena's back facing hers. She grunted and got comfortable under the blankets. "you're lucky that you're pregnant," she grumbled. She heard Xena laugh in a soft hum.

"Goodnight Xena," Gabrielle finally said snuggling in the blankets and she heard a loud clap of thunder in the skies.

"Goodnight, Gabrielle," Xena said in a hushed voice as she let herself slowly fall asleep. "I love you," Gabrielle said and turned to see Xena's back still facing hers. Xena heard that last part and her eyes opened. A small smile came to her lips and she shifted her body to get comfortable. "Love you too, Gabrielle. Now go to sleep," she said firmly.

During the middle of the night Xena trembled in her sleep and sweat droplets formed on her forehead. She rolled over on her back and furrowed her eyebrows as she slept. Soon she jolted awake, gasping for air sitting up, placing a hand over her chest.

Gabrielle's eyes opened and she saw Xena sitting up breathing more heavily than normal. Slowly she sat up and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Xena, what's wrong?" she creased her brows and looked to her friend's profile and her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. "Is it the baby?" she asked as her hand came to baby Eve and Xena rested her hand over Gabrielle's, shaking her head.

"No," she said breathlessly, "she's fine," she concluded. She turned to face her blonde concerned friend. "I had the worst dream," her voice soft. "I was in Rome fifteen years ago...I remembered all my men...the fire...while I was in labor with Solan," Xena rubbed her side feeling a small tinge of pain.

Gabrielle quirked her lips to the side and squeezed her friend's shoulder. "It's just a dream, Xena. That's not going to happen this time. It's just a negotiation meeting not a war _yet_ , okay?" she reassured her and gently pushed her body back down on the blankets until Xena winced in pain and her hand went to her lower back. Gabrielle frowned and touched the spot where Xena was most sensitive. "What happened there?"

Xena shook her head and gradually laid back down. "It's nothing, I got up too fast that's all," she breathed out slowly. Gabrielle pursed her lips and gently pushed Xena onto her side and began unlacing the back of Xena's black dress. "What are you doing?"

Gabrielle smiled, "going to see for myself," she finished unlacing Xena's gown and her slender back was exposed. She then pushed the sleeves off of Xena's shoulders slightly to look at her for better inspection. She couldn't really see so she lit a candle and set it next to their pillows.

Xena rolled her eyes, "Gabrielle," she protested and started turning around but Gabrielle pushed her away onto her side again. "Hey, relax, _remember_?" the scribe smiled and Xena groaned, turning over laying her head on the pillow as she stare at the tent's wall.

Gabrielle tried to relax herself as well and her fingers touched Xena's back, "here?" she asked and Xena shook her head. She frowned and her fingers probed Xena's back lower closer to her hip and she heard her gasp audibly. She applied a bit more pressure and found a knot in her back. "See, _this_ is why you need to relax," a grin formed on Gabrielle's lips and she tried to steadily massage the knot out.

As minutes went by Xena started to settle down her body more as Gabrielle massaged her lower back. She couldn't deny that she was good at this, a little too good she began to close her eyes. "Gabrielle, I'm sorry for not listening to you back at the palace," she said quietly.

Gabrielle's eyebrow arched. "It's alright Xena you were just trying to do things your way, like always," she mumbled.

Xena sighed and stared at the wall, "I should not have yelled at you like I did."

The blonde smiled and finished her job and began lacing up Xena's dress again. "I shouldn't have gone behind your back either," she finished lacing up her gown and Xena turned to sit up slowly. "Feel better?" she asked concerned for her.

Xena nodded her head rubbing her hip gently. "Yes, thank you. Where did you learn to do that?" she inquired curiously.

Gabrielle smirked, "my mother taught me," she shrugged. Xena nodded, still feeling guilty of what she had done all those years ago to Gabrielle's family. She sensed Xena's solemn state and simply decided to change the subject. "I wouldn't worry about being a mother to Eve, Xena," she said. "you'll do fine," she patted her thigh gently.

Xena smiled softly and sighed, rubbing the back of her head. Gabrielle laid down and saw Xena still sitting up. "You're not going back to sleep?" she asked, rolling over on her side staring up at her. Xena's eyes traveled downwards to her friend. "no because _someone_ is awake," Xena said with a knowing smirk. Gabrielle grinned, " _again_? Does she ever sleep?" Xena sighed and laid back down on her side, curling her legs close to her.

"apparently not when I want to," Xena smiled and pulled the blankets over her body again, closing her eyes trying to go back to sleep and forget the nightmare she just had. It was the middle of the night still and Eve was rather energetic and Xena grunted. Gabrielle opened one eye and saw Xena shifting under the blankets. "Gods above, I swear..." she muttered, receiving a swift kick to her ribs, and Gabrielle closed her eyes chuckling quietly as she listened to Xena curse to herself silently.

* * *

The following morning only a few hours later Gabrielle told the guards to gather up the tents and get ready to leave for Rome as it would take them another day at least to arrive. She allowed Xena to sleep as long as possible. She entered the tent and wrapped her bag around her shoulder, looking over she saw Xena sleeping, her chest rising and falling heavily. Smiling she started gathering up Xena's belongings to drape on top of Argo.

Half an hour later Gabrielle managed to get Xena's things altogether and as much as she didn't want to disturb her while sleeping they really needed to be leaving. Gabrielle knelt down and shook Xena slightly trying to wake her up. Xena stirred awake, opening her eyes to see her friend staring down at her.

"Good morning," Gabrielle said and Xena sat up slowly, running her fingers through her long hair. "I have everything ready to go but your tent needs to be dismantled," she said.

Xena shook her head, adjusting her eyes to the light coming in from the tent. "You –you shouldn't have let me sleep in so late," she quietly said as she stood up, grabbing her boots, sword and chakram next to her blankets.

Gabrielle followed Xena out of the tent and sighed. "I wanted you to sleep longer for the journey ahead."

Xena smirked as she began to lace her boots. "Your concern for me is very heartening, Gabrielle." She grabbed her black cloak throwing it over herself, clasping the buckle at her shoulders and mounted Argo ready to leave. Gabrielle then mounted her horse as well and trotted close to Argo. "Ready?"

"Only if you are," Gabrielle said and Xena nodded, riding off to Rome.

* * *

Octavius looked beyond the hills and saw Xena coming in on a slow trot with her scribe, Gabrielle. He smirked and snapped his fingers to his men. "Xena is here, prepare the wine and necessary foods." He watched as Xena approached closer to his camp and he smiled disappearing into his tent.

Xena jumped off Argo and Gabrielle followed her, tying the horses to a nearby tree. Xena wrapped the cloak around her, making sure to conceal Eve at all costs. She didn't want anything to happen to her if Octavius knew that she was pregnant. Upon entering the tent she saw the emperor sitting at his desk drinking wine.

He smiled standing he came to kiss her hand and she made a face of disgust, still not liking the Roman even if he had kept Solan safe for many years. "You're looking well, empress," he stated and gestured for her to sit down. Xena curtly nodded and sat down gracefully and Gabrielle stayed standing staring at the emperor.

"It's all those blood baths I soak in," Xena smirked and saw the emperor turn around with a shocked yet mortified face.

"What?" he said and Xena's smile grew.

"It's a joke," Xena stated with a blank face. Octavius wagged his finger at her and began chuckling at her odd sense of humor. He didn't know if he could ever get used to that even after the many encounters they had together.

Octavius circled the empress carefully and she wrapped the cloak tighter around herself, eyeing his every move. "Did you take a good look outside by the sea?" he said, leaning his palms on the desk. Xena smirked and he shook his head. "Back off my port, Xena." He frowned.

"No," she said and Gabrielle's eyes widened as Xena was starting to become more defiant. "We came here to discuss this, but I'm not going to back off your ports if you don't agree with me."

The Roman started laughing. "Agree? With _you_? It is impossible to negotiate with you!" he said as he sat down, sipping his wine.

Xena frowned as her anger began rising. She didn't have time to deal with such arrogance of this young emperor. "It's simple, Octavius. You sign the treaty and I won't cut off your grain supply. If you don't sign...my men will attack you."

"Even if I sign your ships will still be docked at my ports!" he yelled back.

Xena growled lowly and Gabrielle set her hand on the empress's shoulder and she took a step back, refraining from letting her anger get the best of her. She took in a deep breath and smiled harshly. "I am just looking out for my empire, I'm sure you feel the same?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Octaivus nodded, "yes indeed. Listen Xena, I don't to have a war with you but you just keep butting into my business."

"You don't have the right to claim those lands. Those are mine to claim not yours," she stated as her eyes narrowed like daggers staring at the Roman.

The emperor sighed heavily and leaned in on his desk, staring at the empress. "I really want to like you, Xena, but I don't. I'm not signing your treaty," he threw the piece of parchment on the ground and Xena snarled.

Gabrielle stepped in, "we didn't come all this way for a disagreement," she said holding her hand up. Octavius scoffed at her and stood up.

"Your scribe has quite a mouth, Xena. You actually thought I was going to agree to your terms? Your Empire will fall, I swear by all the gods of Olympus!" he spat and Xena stood up, facing him in equal height staring into his eyes.

She smiled softly, "I really wished you had signed the treaty, Octavius," she turned to leave the emperor's tent and Gabrielle shook her head, quickly following her.

Xena had already mounted Argo and prepared to leave. Gabrielle ran towards her and huffed. "So that's it? you're going to war with the Roman Empire?"

The empress frowned, "that's right Gabrielle. He refused to go the peaceful route," she growled and kicked Argo and she began riding to the shore to meet with her general on the ships. Gabrielle cursed to herself and got on her horse, quickly following Xena to the shore line.

As she approached the ships her men immediately saluted her, bowing their heads as she dismounted off Argo. She came closer and a plank was brought down from the general's main ship. She walked aboard and he bowed his head curtly to her.

"Empress, what does the emperor say to our treaty?" he asked.

Xena frowned, looking over the hill to see Octavius observing their little conversation at the docks. "Wipe them out, all of them! Tell the other general in Cairo to be at a standstill until it is time to attack."

The general was quite shocked to hear those words from his empress even after all the trouble she went through to make this treaty negotiable with the Romans. "We're at war then?"

She nodded, "do not attack until I say so! I will send word from Athens when the emperor decides it is the right time." The general nodded, saluting her and started commanding all the men on board to start preparing. She turned back around, "cut off their grain supply immediately."

Gabrielle jumped off the horse and saw Xena retreating from the docks. "What is this? You're going to war with the Romans? Again?!" she asked.

Xena frowned, picking up her dress as she walked back to where Argo was standing. "We must get back to Athens, Gabrielle. I need to tell my men as soon as possible. The Romans move quickly, I'm sure he will have an entire army on land in two months or so."

Gabrielle groaned, "Xena! No! It's not supposed to be this way. I'm not going to sit here and watch people die just because you want to win this silly war between you and the Romans!"

Xena turned around with fury in her eyes and marched up to Gabrielle, staring down at her. "This is not a silly war! He's going to wipe us out, my entire empire will be gone! I cannot let another Roman conquer me again," she snarled and mounted Argo once more. "Gabrielle, I need your help to push the Romans out of my empire so I can control Egypt and all of North Africa. Are you going to help me or not?" she said pulling on Argo's reigns to keep her still.

Gabrielle mounted her horse and stood alongside the empress. She saw determination in her eyes, a thirst to win. "A war without bloodshed is no war at all, Xena. Are you prepared to watch your men lose their lives in this battle?" she asked, furrowing her brows.

Xena smirked, "that's why I'm putting you in charge of my army, Gabrielle," she pulled on Argo's reigns and rode off into the forestry. Gabrielle blinked, flabbergasted at what she had just said to her. She kicked the stallion and started riding after Xena and her guards.

* * *

They arrived back in Athens in a more timely manner as Xena refused to make extra stops along the way home. The doors opened as she marched into the entrance of the palace. It was mid afternoon and the sun would be setting soon. All the children had finished their lessons and were in their rooms, she hoped. She marched upstairs and immediately changed her clothes and put on a burgundy dress, brushing her hair quickly. She ran down the stairs and went back outside. She had instructed Gabrielle to go straight to the training grounds by herself and insisted she'd catch up with her later.

Mounting Argo she rode towards the training facility not far from her palace. Two guards followed behind her on giant black stallions.

Gabrielle entered the grounds with her horse and saw Borias observing from the balcony above. He locked eyes with her and nodded curtly in her direction. She sourly smiled and then got off the horse, running up to the balcony.

Borias turned to see the blonde join him. He folded his arms as he surveyed the men. "Where's Xena?" he asked.

Gabrielle steadied her breath. "She's on her way. She went back to the palace to change her clothes," she managed to say and Borias eyed her carefully.

Xena finally strolled in as the gates opened and she looked up to the balcony to see Borias standing there with Gabrielle. She trotted in and dismounted Argo, making her way to meet them both.

Gabrielle turned once she heard Xena's heels clicking on the marble flooring of the villa. Borias turned as well with his arms folded, but had a slight smirk on his face the moment he saw her. Xena ignored his subtle expression and went to Gabrielle, hugging her tightly.

"I need to have a word with you both," Xena stated and disappeared to go to the dining hall. Both followed her as soon as Borias commanded Xena's army to stop.

* * *

Minutes later food was brought to three of them and Xena sat at the head of the table with Gabrielle and Borias on both sides of her. Xena picked at her food and saw that Gabrielle was barely even touching her plate as was Borias. They glared at her and she stopped eating only for a moment.

"Octavius has not agreed to the treaty. I told my men to cut off their grain supply and keep the ships at the ports," she drank her water quickly and Borias blinked at her.

"You cut off their grain? I haven't seen you do that since Corinth," he said, finally drinking the wine he had in front of him. Xena shrugged her shoulders lightly and continued eating off her plate. Gabrielle was at a loss for words ever since Xena told her she was going to be in charge of her army back in Rome.

Xena eyed her blonde consort and sighed heavily. "I put Gabrielle in charge of my army." Borias coughed at that and stared at Gabrielle with a raised brow and started chuckling.

"Xena, you can't be serious?" he said and the empress shot him a glare. He was tempted to roll his eyes but instead rubbed his chin pensively. "So...you are at war with the Romans yet _again_ Xena," he smirked, sipping the wine. "You can't take Rome. Not ever, Xena."

Xena remembered those words he said to her when they were on the ship heading to Rome. She immediately felt those same feelings that she had many years ago. She wanted to win, but if she lead the army, she would surely go berserk and that is why she put Gabrielle in charge. You can't have war without bloodshed, Gabrielle was right about that, but she wanted peace between Greece and Rome for once in her life. She was tired of constantly fighting and like Gabrielle said, she was no longer a conqueror.

Gabrielle got up from her seat suddenly feeling overwhelmed. "I'm...I'm going to go to bed early. Goodnight," she rubbed her temple and left the table leaving Borias and Xena utterly confused.

"And you want _her_ in charge of your army?" Borias scoffed.

Xena took another bite of her food and placed her hands beneath her chin. "I trust her, Borias. I wish you could see the same as I do."

A few awkward moments of silence passed as Xena continued eating her food as Borias occasionally stared in her direction, leisurely picking at his food. She had been on his mind since he came back to Athens and when she left he only feared the worst _again_. He had a feeling that the emperor wasn't going to comply with her treaty, only to repeat her same mistakes with the elder Caesar many years ago. As much as he wanted to stop Xena from continuing in this fight, he knew that was not an option. Xena always did things her way and never let anybody tell her otherwise.

"Xena," he interrupted the silence and Xena looked up from her plate. "Are you sure you want to go through this again?"

"Borias I don't need a lecture. I'm more sure than ever at this point," she stabbed her fork in the salad and he widened his eyes.

He felt tension rising between them both, although it had never really left. There was always something going on between the two. "Xena you're carrying a child and –"

"The child is not yours, why do you care?" she spat back interrupting him.

He groaned, "You're doing this again. Endangering another life like you did with Solan," he said and Xena set her fork down glaring at him.

"I think I can worry about my baby without you nagging me," she stood up throwing the napkin on the table, leaving the dining hall. Borias narrowed his eyes and rubbed his brow. He quickly got up and ran after her as she was probably going to her room by now.

He grabbed a hold of her arm and Xena turned around fiercely, snatching her arm away from him. "Don't forget Xena," he said in a low voice, "I saw Eve too. Don't do something stupid," he chastised her.

Xena lifted her chin. "your concern for me is very odd, Borias. If it makes you feel any better, I'm not going to get in the way. I won't fail _this_ time," she said promptly and rounded the corner to go to her room. Borias rubbed the back of his head and sighed heavily.


	40. Chapter 40

**AN: took me a few days to write this in between homework and classes. Enjoy the fluff!**

_Chapter 38_

Throughout the night Xena was not able to sleep as soundly as she had hoped, which she expected. Stretching her arms over her head she swung her legs to the side of the bed and grabbed her robe, wrapping it around her body. She head out of her room to take a much needed walk to clear her head. She instantly thought of Gabrielle and the impending stress that could be overwhelming her dear friend. She had bestowed a great task at hand and Xena wondered if was too much for Gabrielle, but still, she had faith in her that she'd be a great leader of her Grecian army against the Romans. She knew Gabrielle didn't understand her hate for the Romans, but it wasn't that she hated the Roman people, she hated their government, their leaders and their politics against hers. She had tried to combat the Romans before with hate and war but this time was different. She wanted peace but it wouldn't be possible if the other party wasn't willing to cooperate.

As she strolled through the candle lit villa alone she was beginning to think about all her past actions. For once in her life she was on the other end of hate, instead of her being at the top of it. She let her anger and hate drive her for so many years and she thought to herself, why? On the other hand hate did get her where she was today and she was not seen as a pushover but people feared her and refused to come within a few feet of her. All of the changes that occurred in her empire proved to be working and she had yet to make another appearance in front of her people. The last time she saw them publicly she was announcing her new regime, but now she felt she was responsible for all their lives during this war time as well as the child she carried currently.

Xena came to Gabrielle's room and she peered through the open archway to see the blonde warrior sleeping, at least that's what she hoped. Inside, she wanted to wake her up and tell her what her thoughts were, but at the same time, she wanted to let her friend sleep. Creeping into her room she ran her hand over Gabrielle's blonde locks and she bent down to kiss the top of her head, smiling softly.

Gabrielle stirred in her sleep, she reached behind her and grabbed Xena's hand. Xena turned around as she felt the blonde's light grasp on her hand. She knelt down beside the bed, "I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered.

"Why...why are you awake?" Gabrielle said, opening her eyes slowly staring at those glacial eyes staring right back at her.

Xena kissed Gabrielle's knuckles, folding her hand into hers. "I couldn't sleep, but I guess I should let you sleep. We have much to talk about tomorrow Gabrielle," a grin appeared and she stood, but the blonde's hold on her hand did not let up.

Gabrielle was fighting sleep and she hadn't had any good sleep in a long while especially if she was always with Xena and Xena could be a handful sometimes. Scratch that, she's always a handful. "Is Eve keeping you awake?"

Xena felt a small chuckle come to her and she knelt down next to the bed again. Patting Gabrielle's hand she whispered, "no, I'm afraid I'm the one who is restless this time," she winked. She kissed Gabrielle's hand once more and let her fingers slither out from her friend's. "Good night Gabrielle," she turned to exit and saw the blonde smile and fall back asleep in a matter of seconds.

Xena walked down the long hallway, pushing a tendril behind her ear. She saw a shadow round the corner of where her sleeping quarters were. Instantly her eyes narrowed and she grabbed a sword that was hanging on the wall of the villa. Quietly she crept around the corner and saw the figure slowly walking to her bedroom. Frowning she followed silently. She knew it couldn't be Borias as the figure wasn't stout enough nor tall enough.

As she was coming closer to her room she felt hands on her shoulders spinning her body around she pointed the sword at her attacker.

Borias' eyes widened and he held up his hands. Xena rolled her eyes as soon as she saw who it was, she lowered her sword and sighed heavily, feeling her heart beating very fast.

" _What_ are you doing?" Xena hissed, rubbing her forehead.

Borias frowned, "what are _you_ doing sneaking around with a sword?" he spat back in a hushed tone.

Xena pointed down the hall, "someone is going to my room, I was trying to follow them," she frowned. Borias nodded his head and walked in front of her, creeping around the corner slowly. He put his arm out defensively so Xena could not pass. "You're not my body guard," she whispered angrily.

"Would you shut up," he said and Xena blinked, not quite expecting that sort of response from him. He walked ahead of her and she stayed behind him carefully with the sword in hand. As they both came closer to her room they were able to see the dark figure hovering over the bed and fold their arms. Borias looked to Xena and put his hands up to signal to her to stay put. Xena sighed heavily and reluctantly stayed behind as he went closer to her room.

Borias entered Xena's room quietly and wrapped his arms around the figure and he heard a loud gasp.

"Ow! Let go of me!" a familiar voice alerted Borias and he immediately let go and turned the figure towards him. Solan was the shadowy intruder and he instantly felt horrible for simultaneously attacking his own son.

"Solan? What are you doing in here?" he asked and the teenage boy rubbed his arm with a large frown. He huffed and turned to his father. "I was looking for mother," he managed to say, hiding his malice.

Growing more impatient by the minute Xena entered her room to see what was taking Borias so long and why he hadn't come out. She saw Solan standing in front of Borias looking a bit sheepish. She set the sword down on the chair and came to her blonde son. "Solan, what...what are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay in the palace!" her voice rose as she became irritated.

Solan sheepishly shrugged and stared at his mother as she looked very upset and agitated towards him. His father didn't appear to have the same response as her though. He knew he wasn't supposed to come to the training grounds especially against his mother's wishes, but he felt like he could be of some use to her here instead of at the palace.

"I thought I could help you here, mother. I can do more if you let me," he pleaded. Xena sighed and thought his words reminded her of Gabrielle when she shut her out of her grand plans. She didn't want Solan here and didn't need his help here.

Xena folded her arms. "You are helping me by being in the palace, like I told you..." she saw the disappointment in his eyes and she then rubbed her temples generously. "Solan, it's very nice of you that you want to help me, but I don't need you here to help me. I have Gabrielle here to help me."

"you shouldn't be sneaking around in your mother's room, Solan," Borias chimed in and Solan shot him an embarrassed glare.

"How come he can help you and I can't?" Solan spat at his mother and both parents looked to one another. Xena realized that she couldn't keep Solan away for long but she still had an urge to protect him

Xena came close to him and held his hands in hers gently squeezing them tightly. "There is something you can do for me. Go with Borias and he can show you where the inventory room is. You can record all the supplies for me, alright?" she smiled and hoped that would suffice for now. Solan smiled warmly, finally feeling included in something. Borias had a puzzled face and looked to Xena for explanation but she said nothing. He rolled his eyes away from her direction and then Solan stepped closer to him.

Solan had a smug smile on his face, "so...the inventory?" he raised his eyebrows at his father and Borias sighed deeply. Xena smirked and sat on her bed, taking off her robe throwing it aside. "In the morning, Solan," she suggested and he huffed disappointingly. She laid down on the bed staring at the ceiling as the two left her room so she could go back to sleep, though she feared sleep wouldn't come to her.

* * *

Early in the morning Gabrielle stood on the training grounds as the men were warming up. All of the men stared at her wondering why she was on the field instead of in the balcony with the others, but they didn't dare ask her and kept on with their usual routine. As she stared she was nervous and dare say, a bit shy as well. She was starting to think that the task Xena gave her was not the right choice for her. She couldn't understand why Xena gave her the position of leading her army anyway. Xena always wanted to be on top so why would she choose her to do this?

Xena appeared at the balcony overseeing the training and saw Gabrielle looking dazed and confused. She smiled at this, but since she was not able to sleep she instructed one of her generals to deliver a message to all of the soldiers that Gabrielle was in charge of the army. Gabrielle had no idea she had done this, but she anxiously wanted to see what their reactions were going to be. Luckily, they had been quiet about it all. A few eyes stared up at her and she smiled at them all before disappearing from the balcony and going back into the villa.

Borias began walking towards the training grounds and he saw Xena approaching in his direction. He was adjusting his gauntlets and she curtly nodded at him. "Did you show him the inventory?" she asked quietly. He bobbed his head and she smiled. "Maybe he'll stop bothering me now," she half joked and began walking away then suddenly halted in her step. She turned her head and saw Borias still standing in the same spot fixing his gauntlets and he felt her eyes on him.

"Yes Xena?" he smiled at her and Xena walked up to him careful of his wandering eyes.

"Maybe you should be with Solan right now and I'll oversee the training with Gabrielle?" she suggested. Borias' eyes widened but he was in no mood to argue with her and he was sure that he would ultimately lose. He didn't understand her sudden decisions but he also was technically a guest here. He bowed his head slightly and caught a glare from her as he began sauntering away from her, he smiled.

* * *

Solan had counted all of the swords and explosive powders five times over and every time he counted it always came out to the same exact number. He just wanted to be sure that the numbers were correct. He jotted down the amount of each weapon within the room for the sixth time.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten –" Solan pointed at each javelin as he counted out loud to himself.

Borias stepped in the room and heard Solan counting the weapons. He thought that he was finished counting all of them by now. "Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen –" he went on.

"Aren't you finished with that already?" Borias interjected and Solan gasped, turning around to see his father in the entrance of the room. He cursed to himself as he had lost count and Borias saw his frustration. "I'm sure you got all nine hundred and..."

"Thirty six," Solan finished with a smile and Borias nodded his head, entering the room picking up a weapon as he didn't really know how to exactly converse with his own son. Xena had sent him in here to be with him but he didn't understand why nor stuck around to question her. Solan felt the thickness of the silence between them rise and he smirked. "Did mother send you in here?"

Borias brushed off his lawfully right assumption as he didn't want to seem like he didn't want to be around his own son. "It's okay you don't have to stay here with me," Solan said and began writing down some notes about the inventory.

He didn't really like that Solan had said that and more embarrassingly, Xena did tell him to come in here and it wasn't likely that he was going to leave or else she might do something and he didn't really want to upset her, as he knew what that was like, he distinctively rubbed his chest, remembering such a night a few months ago.

"You don't really want to count inventory do you?" Borias asked and Solan turned, stopping his writing as he looked up to him.

"Well," he sighed, "mother told me to do this for her," he began writing again and Borias rubbed his forehead, feeling that this boy had been too coddled his entire life and Xena obviously knew this and didn't desire to give him something better to do with his spare time.

Borias set the weapon down and then came to Solan wrapping his arm around his slender shoulders. He dropped the quill and started unwillingly walking with Borias out of the stock room. His build was nothing like Borias' as he was rather thin with broad shoulders. He figured that he took after Xena in that department and he grabbed the boy's writing pad and set it on a table outside the inventory room. "Your mother will be...pleased that you finished your job, but since you've finished," he smiled. "Why don't you come with me for the rest of the day?"

Solan was pushed forward and he walked beside Borias and he saw that they were going outside to the opposite side of the training grounds away from Xena's prying eyes. He glanced around and saw many of the soldiers sparring with each other. He turned to his father, "mother will be really upset if she finds out I came out here," he said with wide eyes.

Borias shook his head, "let me deal with her, Solan," he threw a sword in his direction and he caught it with ease. _Very nice reflexes_. Solan looked at the blade within his grasp and he remembered what Xena said about swords and how they corrupt one's mind. He learned that a few months ago when he fought her in the arena. She insisted that she'd focus on his studies even before he found out that she was his mother. He then thought of how disappointed his mother would be if she found out that he was wielding a sword yet again, but then as he began to swing the blade in the sunlight, a thought came to him. Xena always had a sword in her hands and she was more than willing to win this war through the edge of her blade. Solan smiled as Borias twirled a sword of equal length with his wrist, staring at him intently waiting.

* * *

Gabrielle watched as most of the men continued on with their daily training. She didn't really know what to do or what to say. To aid in training was one thing but to lead an entire army was another. What was Xena thinking, she thought. Suddenly she felt like someone was staring at her and she swiftly turned around only to see Xena standing a few feet behind her with her arms folded. Sighing she ran towards her away from the men and into the shade beneath the balcony.

"Xena, I don't know where to begin with this. There's –there's so many of them and there's more on the other side of this camp. I just –"

Xena put a finger to Gabrielle's lips and she blinked, immediately quieting her mouth. "I have faith in you Gabrielle, why don't you?" she smiled. Her finger slid away from Gabrielle's lips and the blonde shook her head, rubbing her cheek. She peered behind her and saw a few men staring in their direction.

"Are you trying to make them laugh at me? Because that's what I feel is going to happen," Gabrielle folded her arms as she narrowed her eyebrows staring at the empress.

Xena shook her head in response and grabbed her friend's hand leading her away from the training area and back into the villa. Gabrielle followed suspiciously and they went upstairs to a small office that Xena had. It was definitely a third of the size of her office in the palace, but it was necessary to have one stationed here. Xena sat down at her desk looking for something in the giant stack of maps and documents. Gabrielle watched her intently with an arched brow, questioning the empress's lack of explanation.

She grunted and finally pulled out a very large scroll and began unrolling it onto the desk taking up the entirety of the table. She then placed a few paper weights at the corners of the parchment and stood up slowly glancing downward. Gabrielle stepped closer and saw a detailed map of all of Xena's army drawn in X's. It represented Caesar's army and hers. Triangles represented her Naval fleet that were currently in Cairo and Rome. Meanwhile the dots were supposed to be Octavius' men and there weren't that many compared to Xena's army.

"Do you know what this is Gabrielle?" she smiled deviously. Gabrielle nodded her head and pointed at all of the X's on the map.

"Yes this is your army. I was there in Rome Xena, remember?" she smirked as she recalled all of the ships lined up at the coast of Italia just a few days ago.

Xena wagged her finger, "no Gabrielle, this is _your_ army. It may be under my name, but you command it now."

Gabrielle groaned, "Xena! Why are you doing this to me? So much responsibility," she shook her head, rubbing her neck nervously.

"Responsibility that you rightly deserve," Xena interrupted. "You see Gabrielle, I always fought the Romans and the rest of my enemies in my own way. My way is to win or... _win_ ," she chuckled lightly. "We both know I don't like to lose, but if I have you I know that we won't."

The blonde folded her arms staring at Xena disbelievingly. "You seem so sure of yourself," she stated.

Xena's grin gave Gabrielle the chills and she sensed some mischievous plans swirling in the woman's head as she stared at her intensely. "You were trained by Romans, Gabrielle. So..." she came around from behind her desk and stood a few inches away from her blonde companion. "We are going to fight like Romans to beat Romans," she smiled. Gabrielle nodded finally understanding Xena's reasoning for making her leader of the Grecian army. She was indeed trained by Romans but also trained by an Egyptian man as well. It only made sense that Xena placed her fleet at Rome _and_ Cairo. Everything was starting to make sense to her as she was piecing together Xena's clever ideas.

"So yes Gabrielle, I'm _very_ sure of myself," Xena winked and Gabrielle slightly smiled, feeling a bit of the weight on her shoulders lift off as soon as she understood everything that was at hand. She was essentially giving her a leadership by proxy. They both knew that Xena was the one truly in charge but Gabrielle would do everything for her and allow Xena's name to receive all of the credit.

Gabrielle sauntered over to the map running her fingers over the inked parchment. She pursed her lips and then grabbed a quill and drew a line through all of the ships at Rome's coast. Xena came behind Gabrielle and saw what she just did and frowned confused at this.

"I would get rid of the Navy at Rome's port. Octavius will not attack you on land if he fears that your Navy will attack his city," Gabrielle said and Xena rubbed her chin pensively. "It will become a never-ending war," she explained further.

Xena sighed, "so you're saying that I should have more of my soldiers on land than at sea?" she asked and the blonde nodded.

"You can keep the ships in Cairo. You'll probably need them," she smiled. "It's the Roman way."

Xena nodded smiling with closed lips, "the Roman way," she repeated. "See I knew I could trust you Gabrielle," she bent down and kissed her cheek softly. Gabrielle looked up to her with wide eyes and immediately her face flushed. Xena sensed the shock and embarrassment on her friend's face and then linked arms with her leading them out of the office and into the hallway.

"So with all of this war, training, etcetera," she smiled, "we should do something fun." She looked down at Gabrielle's pondering face. "Together," she added.

Gabrielle was tempted to laugh but simply grinned instead. " _You_ know how to have fun?" she joked and Xena nudged her in the ribs. She winced and frowned playfully at the empress. "Again, you're lucky you're pregnant," she muttered. As they walked together through the hall together silently she asked, "what did you have in mind?"

Xena halted and turned to her friend, grasping her hands in hers. "We can set up a room for Eve, like you mentioned," she beamed. Gabrielle enjoyed seeing the giant smile on her face and nodded as a response. "I mean, I probably won't have time to do it in the next few months so..." she admitted softly.

Gabrielle patted her friend's hand gently, "you don't have to convince me to help you Xena," she shook her head at the woman snickering at her shy behavior. "We can leave tonight and start tomorrow," she added.

Xena let go of her hand, "I have time to leave now," she hastily responded and Gabrielle blinked at her sudden giddiness. She began to head off down the hall by herself. "Make sure you get everything ready Gabrielle and make a list of supplies we will need."

Gabrielle barely had to time to digest what had just happened. Xena had already made plans to leave in a matter of seconds and now she was running off somewhere else? "Wait, where are you going?"

Xena turned around, "I'm going to check on Solan," she smiled and rounded the corner to head to the inventory.

"Well I'll just be..." her voice trailed off as she saw Xena was no longer in close perimeters, "outside," she sighed and went outside to tell the guards that they would be leaving apparently and very soon.

* * *

Xena ran into the weaponry room and her smile died as she saw Solan wasn't there. She looked around the room and circled around the shelves to see if was invisible to her eyes. "Solan?" she called out. Walking out of the other entrance of the room she scanned the area, "Solan!" she called out once more but received no response.

As she hastily paced down another hall and heard swords clashing from beyond the villa's walls. She focused her ears on the sound and stepped closer to it. she peered outside in the archway and saw Solan sparring with Borias in the second smaller training grounds for her men.

Xena folded her arms and stepped outside. Borias caught a glimpse of Xena and he lowered his blade. Solan furrowed his brows and then turned his head to see a very angry mother of his glaring at him. He gaped and hid the sword behind his back.

"Oh mother...are you finished with um...your duties?" he felt his face drain of all color once he saw her eyes darken.

Xena took a few steps closer to Solan and saw him take a step back. She laughed in a soft hum and sighed heavily. "you know Solan, I am in a very good mood right now. It would be a shame if you had disobeyed me in _any_ way..." she lifted her eyes to his, insinuating that she'd just forget this whole thing if he simply caught on with what she was implying.

Borias traced the blade in the dirt with a casual smirk as he saw Xena was trying to play this guilt game with their son. He didn't want to interfere just yet, until Solan responded.

The blonde teenager glanced back at Borias and then to Xena again. He gulped nervously, "I was already finished with the inventory so I...I came out here," he said.

Borias shook his head and rubbed his face out of frustration for this boy. Xena rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip, shifting her weight. "Honesty is a great trait you have Solan. Something you inherited from _me_ ," she glared at Borias and he shifted his eyes elsewhere, pretending to not notice her stabbing glare. "Go inside," she commanded and Solan ran towards the entrance behind her until Xena grabbed his arm halting him. She gestured to the sword and he sheepishly handed the blade to her.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled and Xena said nothing, keeping her eyes straight forward, ignoring his pleading gawk. He sighed and ran inside to keep himself busy with something else.

Borias stared at her and she smirked coming closer in his direction with the sword casually twisting in her wrist. He stood tall and placed his palms on the handle of the sword as the blade dug into the sand.

"Are you out of your mind?" Xena asked with a tight smile.

"I should be asking you that," Borias combated and she rolled her eyes.

She pointed the sword at his chest, "I don't want Solan anywhere near swords. I don't want him holding one or using one, got it?" she pushed the tip closer to him and he did not steer away.

"Xeeeena," he exaggerated his tone with a sly smile. "Look at who his parents are, are you kidding yourself now?" he smirked.

Xena pushed his blouse open with the tip of the sword with a wide scary grin. His bare chest now exposed she hissed, "that's a nice X you got there. Want another one?" she asked and Borias pushed the blade away from his torso with a frown.

He came up to her a few inches from her face. He held her chin between his index finger and thumb, lifting her chin towards his eyes. "You don't own me Xena," he said and Xena frowned as his grip on her face tightened. He snatched his fingers away and began walking away.

Xena rubbed her cheeks and called out, "you don't own me either, Borias!" he waved off as he kept walking. "Remember what I said about Solan!" she shouted once more. Borias threw his arms in the air as he did not turn around to face her.

"Whatever you want, Xena!" he called back and went inside the villa leaving her alone outside. She grunted and threw the sword aside and decided to go meet with Gabrielle as this was a mild interruption.

Minutes later Xena met with Gabrielle near the gates and she fixed the saddle on Argo in silence. Gabrielle saw the serious expression on her face and she frowned, concerned for her friend. "Are you okay?" she touched her arm.

Xena falsely smiled, "just a mild irritation, Gabrielle," she breathed out heavily as she mounted Argo and adjusted herself. Gabrielle did not believe her but decided not to pry in her business any further and mounted the horse as quickly as possible so they could leave for the palace.

* * *

Hours later after they arrived at the palace Xena was in her room over thinking things as usual. Gabrielle strolled in her bedroom casually and saw she was staring at the wall unconsciously. She smiled and waved her hand over Xena's eyes. "Something you want to talk about?" she asked.

Xena shook her head, "no I'm just thinking," she kept staring at the wall. Gabrielle nodded, "I see that," she responded and placed the list in front of Xena hoping that would snap her out of the daze she was in.

"We will need to get a few things. I made a list of fabrics, wood –"

Xena eyed her friend, "wood?" she questioned.

Gabrielle smiled, "you need wood to build things Xena," she said in a soft tone. Xena nodded, completely unaware from the looks of it. A few moments passed and Gabrielle was getting the feeling that Xena was not as excited as she was a few hours ago. "Soooo," she exclaimed and Xena remained stoic. "Where do you want Eve's room to be?" she asked.

Xena looked to her blonde friend and probably thought she was crazy or something of the sort. She smiled reassuringly. "I have an empty room next to mine. I think that will do," she saw Gabrielle bob her head slowly. "What do you think Gabrielle?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders, "I mean..it's _your_ baby," she nervously laughed.

Xena folded her arms defensively, "but I want your opinion." She touched her shoulder gently, "your opinion matters to me," she placed a hand over her heart and Gabrielle smiled at her sudden warmth towards her.

"I haven't actually seen the room, to be fair," Gabrielle said and Xena smiled at her response. They exited her bedroom and came to the room next door. Xena opened the door and the sun brightly shined in their eyes. Gabrielle stepped inside and saw there were some furnishings in the room, but nothing that a baby would care about. There was no bed but indeed a really nice table in the middle with surrounding chairs.

"Was this a meeting room or something?" Gabrielle asked as she came closer to the giant arched windows. She peered outside and saw the gardens below.

Xena stepped inside and wiped her finger along the doorframe picking up some dust from lack of upkeep. "I only used this room when I wanted to be alone when my office was being built years ago." She admitted. Gabrielle nodded and turned to the empress folding her arms.

"Well its seems peaceful. I like this room," her eyes scanned the marble ceiling and she smirked. "It's nicer than mine!" she jested.

An idea came to Xena and she smiled stepping closer to Gabrielle catching the blonde off guard. She took hold of her hands squeezing them tightly. "Gabrielle can I ask you to do something for me?"

"You already asked so much from me, what else is there?" she joked.

Xena allowed her emotions to join in to Gabrielle's fun jesting mood. She grinned, "I know I am asking a lot from you and you don't have to agree to it, but –"

"What is it Xena?" Gabrielle grinned in return not allowing her to finish.

Xena took in a deep breath, suddenly feeling herself losing her self-composure. She never really asked for help before in her entire life, not even as child, but she trusted Gabrielle –trusted her enough to lead an entire empire's army –so she thought this wouldn't be a problem. Her nerves heightened at the thought and she wanted to immediately back down from it but it was too late for that.

"...when Eve arrives," she paused and Gabrielle raised her eyebrows waiting. "Can you stay with me? I mean, to help...me," she half smiled. Gabrielle sensed Xena's nerves through her touch and she stayed quiet. "Eve will be next door to me and it would be a lot easier if you would stay close to me if I need help." She continued but Gabrielle remained silent. Her eyes shifted elsewhere as Gabrielle's stayed focused on her. "You don't have to, I just –"

"Yes," Gabrielle interrupted and Xena's mouth gaped slightly. "I will help you," she grinned.

"Really Gabrielle? I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do," she stated with a firm expression.

Gabrielle stifled a laugh at Xena's second guessing. "Xena, don't worry you're not forcing me to do anything. I'll help you." Xena then released a big sigh of relief and Gabrielle giggled at the empress and saw her cheeks flushed with color. "Feel better now?"

Xena grinned nodding her head, "yes I feel a lot better now knowing that I'm not alone."

Gabrielle looked to her hopeful eyes. "I didn't know you felt alone," she said with a creased brow. Xena eyed her carefully and Gabrielle squeezed her hand tightly. "Are you scared?" she asked.

The warrior shook her head, "I don't get scared," she said defensively. The blonde sensed a lot of fear in Xena's eyes and knew she was too proud to admit something like that so she slyly smiled keeping silent on the matter.

"Okay Xena, whatever you say," she smugly said and Xena frowned as Gabrielle released herself from the grip and walked around the room. "I'm not scared!" she retorted.

"I didn't say you were," the blonde chided and kept walking around the room touching the curtains. She sighed playfully and shrugged her shoulder, "a great empress and conqueror scared of a baby. What would your people think of _that_?" she smirked and stared back at Xena.

Xena folded her arms and smiled sarcastically. "Very funny, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle avoided the woman's sarcasm and strolled to the exit of the room. "We should send Racha to get the supplies needed for the room," she said.

Xena followed Gabrielle as she was heading downstairs. "I want to go myself," she said and Gabrielle halted in her step turning to face her with a surprised face and widened eyes.

"You do? But Xena your people haven't seen you in months..." she said suggesting her condition otherwise.

Xena smiled resting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Don't ruin my good mood, Gabrielle." She went down the stairs without her leaving a very dazed and confused Gabrielle at the foot of the stairs.

Gabrielle shook her head and ran down the stairs catching up to her, "wait are you being serious?" she called out. "Xena!"


	41. Chapter 41

**I have introduced a new character to this chapter for future chapters regarding the war between Greece/Rome. This is a bit slow and I will get back to the war as soon as possible, just a few details I wanted to add in before the chaos. Some fluff and some tension, as always. Enjoy ;)**

_Chapter 39_

The following day Xena and Gabrielle traveled to the inner city of Athens to retrieve supplies like Xena had suggested yesterday. She wanted to go out and be away from her palace and her soldiers and just be normal for once. She could not remember the last time she did something normal. The only thought that kept lingering in her mind as the two women rode in a large caravan to the city was when she was a child helping her mother in her tavern. She always helped her mother and her youngest brother with the chores around their home and tavern.

Gabrielle stared at Xena as she was twisting her gown in her lap unconsciously and staring out the window of the caravan. She smirked and crossed one leg over the other clearing her throat to get the empress's attention. Xena looked over finally and saw a smug smile on the blonde's lips.

"What did that dress ever do to you?" Gabrielle's eyes traveled to Xena's lap and the warrior's eyes followed, immediately stopping her nervous fidgeting. "Why are you so nervous?" she asked in concern.

Xena sighed, "I don't know. I haven't really been in the public eye so I guess that's one thing," she anxiously laughed. "And the way I look now, I mean..."

Gabrielle set her hand on Xena's gently, "you're really not cutting yourself any slack, Xena. You always over think things and I wish you'd stop doing that," she smiled warmly and Xena nodded in agreement.

Suddenly the caravan stopped and the horses' hooves halted in the dirt. Xena felt her nerves getting the best of her again and Gabrielle grabbed her hand and stepped outside of the caravan. "Come on it'll be fine," she started pulling Xena outside and Xena wouldn't move. Gabrielle huffed and set her hands on the sides of the exit of the caravan. " _Xena_..." she arched a brow.

"What if someone asks me about..." her eyes widened and peered down at herself. Gabrielle smiled knowingly and held out her hand again nudging her head for her to come out.

"We'll just tell them it's mine," she joked and Xena raised an eyebrow, finally grabbing her head to step outside of the caravan. Lifting her floor length black dress she stepped outside ducking her head as Gabrielle held her hand. She scanned the area and saw many eyes in her direction giving her mixed signals. The children smiled at her as the women did as well, but the men were quite weary of her. A soft smile came to her as she saw the many happy expressions of children staring at her.

When she came to this area before all she saw was poverty and starving children, but now nobody seemed poor and everyone dressed very nicely, no longer in tattered clothing as before. Gabrielle began talking to Racha as she was brought along with them, about the list of supplies they would need.

"Do you want to look at fabric first?" Gabrielle suggested and Xena's eyes continued staring at everyone looking their way. She waved her hand in front of the warrior's face. "Hello?" she smirked.

Xena shook her head and folded her arms, "yes Gabrielle, that sounds nice."

They began walking through the streets and many moved out of their way immediately, either gawking or slightly bowing their heads. Xena paid attention to their behavior and frowned. Gabrielle held her hands behind her back observing Xena's silent attitude. "You seem distracted," she said in a hushed voice.

"It's not every day their leader comes to the streets in search of fabric and assortments," Xena smirked looking down at Gabrielle.

Minutes later they arrived at a nearby vendor who sold fabric from Egypt and her sister countries. Gabrielle spoke with the vendor as Xena stayed behind her, still distracted by everything around her. Inside she felt proud of herself that a view simple changes was all it took to change her empire and her people's happiness. The streets weren't void of people any longer and homes had been renovated once again and painted white, representing peace. She smiled and then saw a group of a children with their mother and a crying infant in her arms.

The sound of the wailing from the child alarmed Xena and her eyes widened, suddenly becoming annoyed at the child's constant crying. She stared at the baby and wished it would just stop. But as soon as that one started crying she heard another baby crying not too far from that one. Snarling she turned around scratching her cheeks with her nails, trying her best to ignore the loud irritating noise.

Gabrielle nodded at the vendor and kept looking at a really nice shade of blue fabric. Xena groaned audibly and turned to Gabrielle. "I can't do this." She announced.

The blonde eyed her and shrugged, "okay then no blue fabric. What about this pretty lavender?" she held the cloth in her hands and Xena shook her head.

"No Gabrielle! I can't...I can't be a mother!" she protested and the vendor blinked a bit shocked at her words. Gabrielle nervously laughed and pulled Xena aside.

"Would you excuse us?" she politely told the young man. They were now underneath a tavern at the entrance. Gabriele folded her arms staring at Xena. "What are you talking about?"

Xena kept hearing those infants crying in the distance and she frowned, crinkling her nose. "Those children...can't you hear them?" she balled her hands in fists. Gabrielle looked to the crying babies not far from them and smiled.

"Babies do cry sometimes, you know," she said half jokingly. She saw Xena's mood did not lighten at her sudden joke. She set her hand on Xena's arm, "why don't you just tell me what's really bothering you? I know you don't like to talk about your feelings a lot but you've been acting really strange ever since we left."

Xena folded her arms and bit her bottom lip, feeling a bit uncomfortable as Gabrielle stared at her intensely. "What kind of mother am I going to make if I get so irritated...and so easily!" she sighed wearingly.

Gabrielle sighed and copied Xena's stance. She tapped her chin and then thought of something to say as Xena was becoming entranced by those crying infants once again. She tapped Xena's shoulder and she turned around swiftly. "did you always know what to do when a battle didn't exactly go your way?"

"Well no of course not," Xena scoffed.

"But you had a backup plan, right?" Gabrielle asked and Xena nodded. "You know how to think quickly and always come up with a solution." She smiled and continued, "that's one of your best traits, Xena!"

Xena frowned, pursing her lips. "What if I don't know what to do if Eve starts crying? How will I know what to do?"

Gabrielle grinned widely, "you're going to be great Xena. Nobody is perfect and I'll be there to help you, remember? You were a great mother to Solan and you still are. Eve will be no different and I have confidence in you that you'll know exactly what to do." She pat her shoulder gently and Xena nodded, breathing out slowly.

"Thanks Gabrielle," Xena smiled shyly and received an unexpected hug from her blonde companion. She stiffened and then returned the embrace warmly. Gabrielle pulled away and huffed, getting back to the vendor for the fabric once more.

"So lavender?" Gabrielle asked and Xena smirked. "Yes it's a gorgeous color, Gabrielle."

As they finished up buying the necessary fabrics Xena squinted her eyes and saw a large white horse coming down the street with an entourage. Gabrielle gave the cloths to Racha and came to stand next to Xena, staring at the same thing she was. "Who is that?" she asked.

Xena frowned, "I don't know," she looked closer and saw that the person riding the white stallion was a woman –a woman with long brunette hair and a veil shielding half her face. Her eyebrow arched and she walked forward allowing her cape to flow behind her as her pace quickened.

She stood in front of the hoard of foreigners and the lead female halted her men and her white stallion. Xena stared at the woman and she didn't seem a woman from Greece by the look of her clothing. She wore dark clothes, a black knee length coat with harem pants and pointed gold flats. Her eyes were green and lined with kohl. The woman unveiled her face with a slight smug smile.

"What brings you to Athens?" Xena said gesturing to the fine city she owned. The woman smirked as her eyes danced around the surroundings. She stared at Xena and spoke loudly, "I request an audience with the Empress Xena," she stated.

Xena arched a brow and turned to see Gabrielle's clueless face. She too didn't know who this woman was. The empress turned her head around with narrowed eyes. "Who is asking?"

The dark haired woman straightened her posture and smiled, "Zenobia, Queen of Assyria."

Xena began to laugh mockingly. "There is _no_ queen of Assyria," she folded her arms. The woman frowned and obviously knew that this woman standing in front of her was indeed the Empress of Athens, though she kept quiet for now. Veiling her face more her eyes glared at Xena. Her glacial eyes stared into Zenobia's green marbles intensely.

"Perhaps we can discuss this in a more _private_ setting?" Zenobia bent down whispering to Xena. The Grecian Empress frowned but did not disagree. She curtly bowed her head and swiftly turned around brushing passed Gabrielle.

Gabrielle ran after Xena, "who is that and what is going on?" she asked as they marched through the streets heading back to the dark caravan. Xena held onto the caravan's hand rail and looked behind the Assyrian woman indeed following her on the white horse. "should I be worried?" Gabrielle asked with fearful eyes as she saw the ominous woman approaching them.

Xena frowned and stepped inside and Gabrielle followed quickly. "Xena, who is that and why are we leaving?"

The warrior woman was becoming annoyed with Gabrielle's pecking and she glared at her. "She claims she is the Queen of Assyria, but there is no Queen of Assyria!" she peered out the window and saw the woman slowly trotting behind them. They felt the caravan jolt forward and Gabrielle nearly fell over as Xena remained still and composed.

"So what exactly does that mean? She's lying to you?" Gabrielle asked, holding onto her seat steadying herself again.

Xena shook her head, "there was a King of Palmyra, but I haven't been there in such a long time. We had an agreement to be allies against the Romans. He agreed and I taxed him for his allegiance to me."

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows, "Xena, are you _still_ doing that?"

Xena shrugged biting her fingernail, "I must retain power somehow Gabrielle."

The blonde hit her forehead with her palm. "By the gods Xena, she's probably a mercenary or something!" she began frantically going over different scenarios in her head of what might happen.

"Get off it Gabrielle. She's not a mercenary," she scoffed. "I would've been dead by now. No...I'm missing something," she tapped her chin as her mind began ticking.

Gabrielle looked behind the caravan and indeed the woman was following them. "She kind of looks like you," she said and Xena snapped her head to her with a menacing glare. Slowly Gabrielle smiled sheepishly and sunk down in the cushioned seat. "I mean...you're prettier," she lamely said.

Xena arched a brow, "thanks Gabrielle, that makes me feel _tons_ better." She continued thinking about this sudden entrance this woman made and why right now? "Something isn't right here."

"I'll say. Are you really going to let her in the palace?" Gabrielle asked and suddenly fell off the seat onto the floor as the wheels hit a rock. Xena looked down and helped Gabrielle up sitting her right beside her. Gabrielle huffed and brushed off her sleeves, pretending like that didn't happen.

"Are you alright?" Xena smirked, feeling a bit of enjoyment seeing her friend fall on the floor like that. Gabrielle glared at Xena's smug face and folded her arms.

"Go ahead and laugh Xena, but yes if you must know, I'm fine." She scratched the back of her head turning her eyes away from Xena.

The empress stifled a laugh, "good to hear," she paused. "When we arrive at the palace I want you to go the conference room and wait there. I will escort this 'queen' myself," she folded her arms defensively.

* * *

As soon as they arrived back at the palace Racha and a few other servants were able to bring everything they bought inside. A few stared at the woman who was still trotting behind. Xena stepped outside and Gabrielle followed shortly after. "Are you sure you want to escort her alone?" Gabrielle whispered.

Xena nodded, "yes Gabrielle just go do as I said," she pushed her aside slightly and Gabrielle sighed, going to the conference room as she was told to do.

Meanwhile Xena waited at the entrance with an unforgiving expression as the Assyrian woman approached her on the horse. Zenobia grinned and dismounted her horse handing the reigns to her men. One of her men wished to follow but she put her hand up noticing that Xena was not willing to have extra guests. She took a few steps closer and saw Xena lift her chin staring down at her. Unveiling her face she revealed a smile and bent down and kissed Xena's gown.

The empress raised a brow at this but did not protest. The Assyrian stood up and now both were looking into each other's eyes. "You have a very nice home, Xena," Zenobia said with a warm tone. Xena eyed her carefully, trying to figure out what this woman was up to. She appeared to have no weapons on her, at least ones that she couldn't see. Her eyes were not menacing, though not entirely warm either.

Xena smiled tightly and gestured Zenobia to enter her fortress first as a guest. "After you," she said and Zenobia grinned, taking her first step in the palace with Xena following her closely.

The Assyrian woman's eyes glanced at all the marble floors and columns inside the palace. Xena placed a hand on her shoulder directing her down the long hallway. Xena hoped that Gabrielle was there waiting for them like she asked. They walked alongside one another in silence. Xena glanced at Zenobia from the corner of her eye and could see why Gabrielle thought they looked similar. She too had long dark hair, olive skin, light eyes and was quite tall, matching her height equally.

Moments later Xena opened the giant doors and saw Gabrielle patiently waiting in one of the chairs. She smiled grateful that she had obeyed her instructions for once. Zenobia stepped inside after Xena and kept her hands to herself, making sure not to touch anything or sit down. Xena took off her cape throwing it on a nearby chair and made her way to sit down in one of the chairs placed in a circle.

"Sit, please?" Xena grinned falsely and Zenobia nodded, sitting down across from Gabrielle and Xena, folding her hands in her lap sitting up straight. Xena offered the woman some wine and she took glass cautiously. Her smile remained and she slowly reached behind her back holding onto the hilt of a dagger.

Gabrielle's eyes looked to Xena and she saw her gripping a dagger behind her back. Her eyes widened and she sunk in her chair suddenly feeling like this wasn't going to go well at all.

"You know the last time I was in Assyria there was a King that ruled there so I find it hard –"

Zenobia set her glass down on the table, "he was my husband and he was assassinated within the past year," she said and Xena raised her eyebrows, completely unaware of this.

Xena smiled politely, "oh, well, my condolences," her fingers slowly retracted from the dagger and reached for a glass of water. Gabrielle sighed, relieved suddenly. "I don't think you traveled all the way to Athens to tell me this. Am I right?" she smirked and drank some much needed water.

Zenobia eyed Gabrielle and saw fear and uncertainty in the girl's eyes. She smiled, looking at Xena once more, noticing fire in her eyes –completely opposite of the blonde's. "No..." she cleared her throat, "I wanted to discuss Egypt with you. I understand you and the Roman Empire are at odds?" she asked for clarification.

Xena frowned, "yes. And what about Egypt?"

The Assyrian Queen shifted in her seat, leaning forward to assert herself. "I received a letter saying you cut off Rome's and Egypt's grain supply."

"I did," Xena arched a brow, not liking this woman's abrasiveness.

Zenobia laced her hands together and felt pretty strong enough to come here and confront Xena face to face. "The grain supply belongs to me and you have endangered my people as well. We can no longer receive grain from Egypt."

Gabrielle looked at Xena incuriously, knowing that something like this would happen. Xena started laughing softly, "I can have the grain redirected to your people. Is that all?" she smiled, sipping her water.

Zenobia smiled warily. "I don't think you understand Xena." She said with a frown. Xena copied the woman's stance and leaned forward in her seat glaring at the Assyrian woman.

"So tell me, what is it that I don't _understand_?" she hissed.

Gabrielle touched Xena's arm gently and Xena glared at her friend. "Maybe we should listen to what she has to say, Xena?" she prompted. Xena leaned back in her chair dismissing her defensive stance. Zenobia was more noticeably relaxed after and leaned back in her seat as well.

The Assyrian Queen began calmly, "I control lower Egypt. I understand that you control the northern territories per Cleopatra's request," she smiled curtly. "I don't want to have war with the Romans against my kingdom so perhaps...we could work together? Help one another?" she hoped.

Xena tapped her fingers on the armrests and stared at the queen. Inside she didn't feel like this woman was trying to one up her, though she had little trust from anyone these days, especially outsiders. Though, her kingdom had been loyal to her empire after all these years under the reign of her late husband. He was a good ruler, but obviously not good enough since he was dead. Aside from Cleopatra, Xena was the only female that ruled over a vast amount of land and successfully. Now there was this Queen sitting in front of her. She knew that that particular kingdom ruled over the majority of the Eastern lands next to Phraates as well as parts of Turkey.

"Could I have a word alone with my...partner?" Xena eyed Gabrielle. Zenobia nodded and kindly exited the room closing the doors behind her.

Gabrielle scooted closer to Xena and eyed the closed doors. "She seems nice," she concluded.

Xena pursed her lips, "hmm," she began swirling the glass of water in her hand. "She has presented a contract with me to join forces against the Romans," she smiled.

"I think that she could be of good use to us, Xena."

"I need to see her army for a test first. I won't sign my empire away to a foreigner for the sake of winning a war, Gabrielle," she finished the glass in a swift swig. Getting up from her seat she marched to the doors opening them she saw Zenobia waiting, leaning on a column.

She slowly approached the woman, "I'm not going to renege on cutting off the grain supply." She saw the woman's eyes widen in fear. "But I want to see what you and your army can do. Any military matters you can discuss with my partner, Gabrielle," she gestured to Gabrielle whom stood behind her. Zenobia eyed the blonde and then nodded at Xena.

"Then she will discuss those matters with the King of Palmyra," Zenobia stated. Xena looked confused as she thought her husband had died. Gabrielle stepped forward equally as confused.

A young man with a veil shielding his face approached the three women and he bowed at Xena. Xena bowed her head curtly with furrowed brows. He looked no more than a few years older than Solan and had his mother's green eyes and dark hair to match.

"My name is Allat, your highness," he smiled and kissed Xena's hand politely. Xena lifted her chin and watched this young man represent his nice royal manners towards her. It was all very strange to her, being treated in such a way by foreigners. He stepped aside and then kissed Gabrielle's hand softly. Xena watched the exchange and saw Gabrielle smile at him warmly. Raising an eyebrow, she would be watching this man carefully.

Zenobia cautiously watched Xena's reaction and couldn't really read her. Her husband had spoke of Xena many times and how she was such a tyrant and unforgiving to betrayers and trespassers. Though now, she didn't see any of those traits in her and she was able to pass easily through Athens. She wasn't sure of Xena's intentions but one thing she was sure of was that Xena loved to win wars and she wouldn't allow the Romans to conquer her kingdom even if she didn't survive the fight.

"Take him to the training grounds, Gabrielle," Xena instructed and Gabrielle nodded, unsure of what was going to happen between Xena and her new possible ally. Allat followed promptly after he bowed at the two women before leaving.

The two raven haired warrior women stared at one another in silence for a few moments until Zenobia broke the silence. "My husband has said many things about you..." she inquired and Xena nodded, figuring this would come up sooner or later.

"I'm sure he did," Xena began walking to her office and Zenobia followed her.

"We could become great friends, you and I," she said and Xena glanced over at her as they kept walking.

Xena smirked, "empires don't need friends, only allies."

Zenobia halted Xena and she saw the woman's eyes narrow. "Allies then." She smiled. Xena did not respond and kept onward to her office. The Arab woman followed promptly, hoping that she'd be able to get on this woman's good side, though it wasn't looking to be that way any time soon.

* * *

Xena had spent the majority of the day talking with Zenobia about the war with Octavius and Phraates. Zenobia expressed her hate for the Persian King and Xena quite enjoyed hearing that. She too hated the man especially since he had switched sides not once but twice. During their meeting Zenobia discussed that her army was nearly three fourths the size of Xena's army and could be of good use to her. She also suggested that to cut off the grain was a poor decision, even though Xena was not going to budge on that decision she had managed to let that thought of releasing the grain to Rome and Egypt again, in the back of her mind.

Zenobia also mentioned that to keep her Navy in Cairo was not a good idea either since Phraates was a spineless worm and would not attack with ships because he had none, since he sided with the Romans. The Romans were not known for their Navy, thus making her spread her army across the Mediterranean was poor in thought in the long run. It was just a scare tactic but later it would prove to be devastating later. Xena thought of Gabrielle and how that was her idea to keep the fleet in Cairo but not in Rome. It seems that she was correct in that department when she heard Zenobia say the same exact words to her.

It appeared to Xena that this woman had dealt with Romans before and knew how they worked. She really wanted this woman to aid in this war, but at the same time she wasn't quite sure what would happen if she allowed this. Not to mention her young son was the King of Palmyra, which was rather strange, since his mother was the brains behind everything. Though, thinking about it, Xena thought this wasn't all that strange as she was sort of doing the same thing to Gabrielle, though on a different scale of things.

She managed to set up a few rooms for the Queen, her men and her son in the palace as they were considered guests. Xena often had guests in the past even the Roman emperor himself and she wouldn't turn away a guest even if she didn't care for them.

Later in the evening Xena sat in her room eating some bread, fruit and yogurt on her bed as she marked up a map. She allowed her pet spider, Zoe to roam free on her bed as she kept herself busy. The furry spider crawled on the map and Xena smiled at her, continuing marking the parchment with her quill.

Gabrielle opened Xena's door and she was quite dirty and had battle armor on. Xena looked up as she bit into a strawberry, seeing a very exhausted Gabrielle. "

"How did it go?" Xena asked, writing down a few notes on the map.

Gabrielle came to Xena and sat on her bed then jumped up as soon as she saw Zoe crawling on the bed freely. "By the gods Xena! I don't know why you keep that ugly thing in your room."

Xena frowned, "she's not ugly, she's my friend." She continued eating and Gabrielle stayed standing. Xena saw that Gabrielle was not going to come anywhere close to her as long as her spider was free to roam. She smiled, grabbing the spider and getting up to place her back in her cage close to the window. She sat back down on the bed shortly after. "Better?" she teased.

Gabrielle breathed out heavily and sat on Xena's bed. "yes! Thank you," she said shyly. "I can't believe you just called that spider your friend," she cringed.

Xena smiled as her eyes traced the map. "Friends come in all shapes and sizes, Gabrielle."

"Speaking of friends," Gabrielle began slowly. "Solan and Allat seem to like each other. I hardly had any time to talk with the young King," she smiled.

Xena looked up and grinned, "good. He needs friends and especially not a mother as a friend," she chuckled.

A few silent minutes passed and Gabrielle sighed heavily. "Did you and Zenobia talk at all while I was gone?"

The empress nodded, "we did. She is very smart and has a lot of good strategies. She suggested I make my Navy back off from Cairo as well."

Gabrielle frowned at this. It was her idea to keep the Naval fleet at Cairo and now Xena was listening to this other women without a second thought. "I thought we agreed to keep the Navy at Cairo?"

Xena stopped writing and sensed Gabrielle's apprehension. "She says it will only delay the war," she continued writing again and bit into a date, focusing her mind solely on the map.

Gabrielle stood up and folded her arms at her friend. She felt a bit betrayed inside that Xena would undermine her authority once again. Snubbing her ideas seemed to be Xena's best trait as of late. "So you're just going to listen to her? You don't even know her!"

The empress arched a brow and pushed the map aside on her bed. "Gabrielle, this isn't a personal decision. What's up with you?" she asked.

The blonde gasped, "you don't trust me!" she yelled.

Xena scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous of course I trust you," she folded her arms defensively.

"Then why did you decide to do that without telling me? Aren't I in charge of your army?" she spat and began pacing in front of Xena's bed. The warrior woman looked to her blonde friend in distress and couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at her behavior.

"Gabrielle, this is a war, not a game. My – _our_ decisions depend on winning it," she caught glimpse of Gabrielle's glare towards her.

She mocked, "I can't believe you, Xena." She shook her head and began pacing again. "You were about to say _your_ decisions, not ours. What am I to you? A shadow?" she frowned and placed her hands on her hips.

Xena groaned and leaned forward as she sat on her bed still. "Gabrielle," she sighed. "your position is very important. I don't mean to step all over you. You know that I trust you..." she blinked slowly.

Gabrielle said nothing and Xena scratched her head anxiously. "Look, I was just discussing that with Zenobia, I didn't agree to it. I told her I wanted to talk to you about it first," she raised her eyebrows and saw Gabrielle's expression change to embarrassment.

She came and sat on her bed and rubbed her now flushed cheek. "I'm sorry...I overreacted."

Xena smiled and grabbed Gabrielle's hand squeezing it tightly. "It's alright, we know I've done that several times." She kissed her hand gently. "You know I value your opinion."

Gabrielle grinned, hiding her smile from Xena shyly. "That means a lot to me."

"I'm sorry I'm not very good at showing it sometimes. I'll make sure to work on that," she smiled.

The blonde no longer scribe, turned first in command, grinned nodding her head slowly. Xena went back to eating her food in silence. Gabrielle tapped the inside of her cheek with her tongue. "Hey, I know you wanted to work on Eve's room for today."

Xena looked up at her friend, "things get in the way," her smile was depicted as rather disappointed. Gabrielle grabbed the empress's hand and helped her up barely giving her a chance to respond accordingly. They exited her room and Xena was being pulled along unwillingly. "Gabrielle!"

Gabrielle and Xena stood in front of Eve's new room and Xena baited her breath setting her hands on her hips. "What was that about?" she frowned.

"I asked Racha and a few others to tend to the room for the day," Gabrielle smiled. Xena's face changed from slight annoyance to dare she say, excitement. Gabrielle opened the door slowly and stepped inside. Xena followed after and her head spun around looking at what had been so far. The curtains had been changed to the lavender fabric they bought earlier in the day and all the furniture was moved out of the room. She walked in the room taking in everything. "It's not a lot, but it's something. I know you really wanted to do this yourself, but as you said 'things get in the way'," she grinned.

Xena turned to face Gabrielle with a warm beaming smile. "Thank you Gabrielle. It's really...thoughtful of you," she stepped closer and kissed Gabrielle's cheek softly.

Gabrielle felt her heart beat faster than usual and she watched as Xena continued staring at the room in a daze of some sort. She stepped closer to her. "I think she will like this room."

"she will and I will tell her that all of _this_ was your doing," she smirked as she gently nudged Gabrielle in the arm. Gabrielle playfully nudged Xena's arm back and the empress gasped. "Gabrielle," she put her hand to her chest feigning surprise. "I'm pregnant remember?" she teased.

Gabrielle enjoyed seeing Xena joke about herself at a time like this so she decided to feed the fire a bit more. "Oh yeah, I mean, I can _really_ tell," she smirked with delight. Xena's mouth gaped at Gabrielle's sudden jab at her, she folded her arms and saw Gabrielle slowly backing away, fearing her right about now.

Her eyes widened as Xena's mouth closed tightly. "I was kidding. You look amazing," she lamely tried to save herself. "No stress, remember?" she held up her hands and Xena frowned as she continued staring at her. Gabrielle was starting to think that little joke wasn't very funny then she saw Xena smile at her fear.

Xena held up her hands in defense, "no stress!" Gabrielle arched a brow and folded her arms, feeling a bit silly for almost thinking that she was about to die at that little joke.

"You really had me there for a minute," she wagged her finger.

Xena wrapped her arm around Gabrielle, clinging her body close to hers, pointing her finger in her face. "Who said I was joking?"

Gabrielle eyed Xena warily.

"Small joke," she pinched her index finger and thumb together and chuckled causing Gabrielle to roll her eyes.

"I really hate when you do that," she mumbled and Xena jabbed her in the ribs. She grunted and sighed heavily. "When the baby gets here, I'm going to punch you as many times as I want."

Xena hummed. "I'd like to see you try."


	42. Chapter 42

_Chapter 40_

Two weeks had gone by since Zenobia and her son arrived in Athens. Xena was still testing the waters with the Assyrian Queen regarding her army and her loyalty towards her. Zenobia was a strong warrior woman, Xena saw that, and she really wanted to trust the woman, but her past experiences prevented her from granting that trust. Xena had stayed in the villa instead of her palace for the last few days overseeing the training. Zenobia was welcome as well, but it seemed her son was doing most of the work for her when it came to training their men. Allat was the warrior King that Zenobia trained him to be. Solan had been constantly shadowing Allat and his strategies.

Xena soon came to realize that she couldn't keep Solan away from war, it was almost like it was in his blood. Though, she didn't like that he was picking up interest in the ways of the sword she definitely couldn't stop him from pursuing that dream. He was to be sixteen in a couple of months and Xena knew that Solan was not really a child anymore, even if he would always be _her_ child, forever.

Inside she wanted to be out in the field with Gabrielle training her own men, but had made a promise to herself and to her daughter –that she'd stay out of the way this battle. Fearing that she would fail her again she thought it'd be best that she stay out of the war for Eve's sake and her own. She admired Gabrielle for taking up her job as general for the army even though it had taken awhile for her to get used to the idea. This girl that she picked up at the slave market was no more and Xena had no idea that she'd be such good friends with her as the year went on. Gabrielle was very wise, kind, strong and forgiving –something that Xena still couldn't accomplish in her life. She had learned to forgive those who have wronged her in her life, but she had yet to forgive herself. Xena didn't know if she was capable of doing so, even if Gabrielle persisted that it would make her feel better, she wasn't entirely sure.

As Xena sat in her office in the villa she looked over a few documents that she and Zenobia had gone over the last week or so about the grain supply. Xena still would not budge on her decision to uplift the ban on grain in Cairo. Zenobia gathered that this more due to Xena's pride than anything else, though she wouldn't dare tell Xena such thoughts. The last thing that Zenobia wanted was her people to suffer and Xena did not wish that on her people _anymore_ either.

The longer she stared at the documents the more overwhelmed she felt. Pushing the parchments aside her ears perked up at the sounds of swords clashing outside and Gabrielle's loud voice. Smiling she leaned back in her chair, resting her arms on the armrests. The silence inside of her body was unfamiliar to her. Normally she'd be out there with the rest of her men, but no, she was sitting in an office, alone and in silence. Xena thought she should be grateful for such a gift –the gift of silence. The need for the sword would always call to her but she had more important things to worry about than a sword. This war was just a distraction and completely unnecessary the more she thought about it. if Octavius would have just complied with the treaty then perhaps there would be no war and leave Egypt out of it, but no, he had to want everything in his grasp. Xena was not going to allow that to happen.

Tapping her fingers on the arms of the chair she clicked her tongue on her inner cheek, feeling boredom succumb her entirely. Being a conqueror was one thing, there was a lot of action, a lot of death and satisfaction. But to be an empress was very different in the sense that there was a lot of politics, paperwork, negotiating and the costs of war. The more Xena sat alone in her office she was beginning to think that being an empress was a very lonesome job. As soon as Gabrielle started helping her change the empire she didn't feel so alone anymore, she felt like she could make a difference and for good. Gabrielle was a great asset to her empire. She would have never thought this nearly a year ago, but things change and they can change in the blink of an eye.

Sighing heavily Xena shifted in her chair slightly, she ran her fingers through her long silky hair and her eyes dreaded that pile of documents that seemed to get larger the more she stared at it. She was awaiting a letter from Octavius signaling his stance in the battle but so far in these last two weeks she hadn't received anything from the Roman. Xena wouldn't dare admit that she was nervous that she had not gotten a letter from him, but she indeed was. She didn't want this battle to go on forever and it wasn't even on her turf yet. Thinking quickly on her feet she asked Zenobia last week to send scouts to survey the Roman territories and the outskirts of Greece for any invasions. So far, there had been few reports, most of them were about Romans moving weapons from the edge of Italia to Greece. That meant nothing to Xena especially if Octavius wasn't there himself.

Beginning of her seventh month mark of her pregnancy Xena had come to the realization that her fatigue took over her body constantly. Her mind was very scattered in the midst of this war and the new people that seemed to pop out of nowhere was wearing her out. She had to remember what Gabrielle said about stressing herself out many times throughout the day. It seemed to work most of the time, but usually she couldn't handle a lot of stress at once, especially since she wasn't truly in charge of anything at the moment.

Xena scratched her head vigorously letting her anxiousness override her body. She grunted and slammed her fists on the armrests of the chair. Immediately following she felt a jab in her ribs and she sighed hanging her head, hiding her face behind her dark veil of hair.

"Xena?" Gabrielle knocked on the wall and Xena's head shot up staring at her friend. "How's it going in here?" she said in labored breath. Her body was covered in dirt and sweat.

"It's _not_ ," Xena said gesturing to the pile of unread documents before her. Gabrielle grinned and set her sword on the wall, brushing off her boots on the rug at the entrance she waltzed over to Xena's desk, gladly taking a seat. Xena arched a brow at her.

Gabrielle touched Xena's hand, "you look really stressed out," she squeezed her hand tighter. Xena sighed in response and leaned back against the chair.

"I'm trying my best not to be," Xena said with a forced grin.

Gabrielle nodded trying her best to make Xena feel better but honestly she hadn't really had the time to sit down and talk with her these last two weeks. She imagined that she was very busy in her offices most of the time, but even with all of this war, it was hard to be normal. "Why don't we have dinner tonight, just the two of us?" she suggested. "I'll get those dates you really like," Gabrielle hinted and raised her eyebrows smugly.

Xena smiled returning the hand squeeze. "I'd like that very much. Just the two of us." Gabrielle nodded in agreement and stared into her eyes for a long while until Xena broke the silence. "How is the training going? I heard you yelling earlier," a smile emerged as she said that aloud. She was quite proud of Gabrielle for stepping up to the plate as the leader finally.

Gabrielle blushed, "it's going really well! I sent Borias with Zenobia's scouts to the outskirts of Greece. Solan and Allat are aiding in the training as well."

Xena's smile disappeared and she pinched the bridge of her nose. Gabrielle immediately felt awful that she had said that to her and jumped off her desk quickly. "He's really good with the young soldiers. I know you'd be really proud of him, Xena," she smiled. Xena stayed silent and stared off into the distance. "I know..." Gabrielle paused, "you didn't want him to learn the ways of the sword, but...he's really good. I actually gave him a position in the army," she admitted quietly.

This news sparked Xena's attention and her eyes narrowed at her blonde companion. "You did _what_?" her knuckles turned white as she balled her hands in fists on the armrests.

Gabrielle put her hands up for defense. "X-Xena I know you want the best for Solan but he wants to help so why not let him? I gave him a position as an archer commander in the army."

Xena stood up abruptly and snarled. "That's in the front line!" she yelled. She felt a tinge of pain in her side and she leaned on the desk for support. Her breaths deepened and Gabrielle took a step forward tempted to comfort her but was still afraid of what she might do. Her eyes traveled up and glared at Gabrielle. "Why did you do that without telling me?" she straightened herself setting a hand on her hip.

"I care about Solan a lot Xena. I'd never give him a position that would endanger him. He's going to be in the back line of the archers with Allat overseeing him." She saw Xena's pupils dilate and she sighed. "Xena, please..." her hand reached for her and Xena pushed her hand away. "the baby remember? Stress?" she grinned nervously.

"Thank you Gabrielle, but I already have a mother," her sarcastic tone was very obvious and Gabrielle backed away slowly. Xena folded one arm beneath her breasts and tapped her chin in thought.

Gabrielle frowned, "and you're going to be a mother. You have enough to worry about, just let me handle this, alright?" she said and Xena glanced at her. " _Alright_?" she stressed. Xena curtly nodded and Gabrielle huffed in satisfaction. "Okay then, good." She fixed her armor and went to grab her sword off the wall. "Dinner tonight and don't be late," she smiled and turned to leave.

"Gabrielle..." Xena called out and the blonde turned around. "Be careful."

The blonde grinned and nodded, "always!" she left the office and ran down the hall to retreat to outside once again. Xena watched her depart and she sighed heavily. The room became still again when Gabrielle left the room. The silence, the oh so horrible silence was back again.

She felt a pair of hands come from behind her and wrap around her waist. She growled and elbowed the intruder in the face and grabbed her sword on the desk, turning to face her unexpected guest. "You touch me or my baby again and I'll scalp you!" she pointed the blade at the War God and he held his nose from her sudden jab.

Ares shook his head and smiled, "well I see motherhood has not made you weak," he grunted and adjusted his black vest. Xena took a step closer with the blade, feeling her heart racing from the rage building inside her. His grin deepened. "You're more feisty than before," he laughed, "I like it."

"What do you want Ares? You've been hiding," she smirked.

He scoffed, "not hiding just observing."

She nodded sardonically, "oh is that what you call it?" she lowered her weapon and frowned. Ares stepped closer to her and she held up the blade again. He put up his hand swearing he wouldn't do anything to her. She took a step back and bumped into the chair, feeling clumsy all of a sudden, not aware of her surroundings. "Come closer, I dare you," she challenged.

Ares smiled and took the blade from Xena's hands with a snap of his fingers and Xena blinked, now seeing the blade in his hands. "Relax, princess. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to talk," he shrugged. Xena shook her head and started laughing. " _Talk_? You never just want to talk, Ares," she spat.

He reached behind her and his hand rested on the small of her back, bringing her body close to his. She didn't resist though was wary of his seductive behavior. His fingertips touched her cheek softly and Xena stilled herself. "It looks like you got what you wanted as always..." he smiled and Xena glared at him. "A war, allies, your precious Gabrielle and a baby too! What a steal," he winked. Her eyes rolled in response and she pushed him away finally. A large smug grin appeared on his lips and she circled her desk, now placing the table between them.

"It's come to _this_ now?" he sneered. "We used to have something special together, Xena," he took a step closer and she pushed the table slightly and it rammed into his groin. He grunted and leaned on the table as she smirked.

"What we had has come and gone, Ares," Xena stated. "Why are you here? Have you come to seduce me in bed with another one of Aphrodite's potions?" she smirked, laughing beneath her breath. Ares glared at her, furrowing his eyebrows and suddenly appeared in front of her again. she reached for a dagger nearby and he grabbed her wrist forcefully.

He shook his head, "why are you making this so _difficult_?" he grunted and threw the dagger into the wall behind Xena. Her eyes widened as he took another step closer to her. "I'm just looking out for you," he smiled. His eyes peered down and Xena raised an eyebrow. "And your baby too, of course. Listen, I'm all about war, because well, I invented it!" he chuckled at his own joke and then cleared his throat. "You're wasting your time with Octavius and time, you do not have, princess."

Xena frowned, "I'm not going to listen to your little plans, Ares. I know what I am doing."

Ares nodded, "so I guess you know that Octavius and his army are marching towards Greece as we speak?" he frowned and saw her eyes widen. "Bet you didn't know that huh?!"

She shook her head, "you're lying! I have men scouting the perimeters."

"Would I lie to you?" he grinned and Xena folded her arms, arching her brow in disbelief. He sighed setting his hands on his hips. "okay just never mind what I just said. Anyway, Xena," he placed his hands on her shoulders and she snarled. "You need to listen to me."

Xena shrugged her shoulders from his grasp. "Why should I?" she lifted her chin and Ares rolled his eyes gripping her arms tightly her eyes grew and she stiffened herself.

"I really hate when you do this Xena! Don't be so difficult and just listen to me!" he shook her slightly and Xena blinked then head butted him in the forehead. Ares was knocked back a few steps and Xena smiled, retrieving the dagger that was stuck inside the wall. "I told you if you touched me again I was going to scalp you," she came towards him and he shook his head, getting up off the floor.

"You can't be serious. You know who I am right?" He sneered and saw her twirling the blade in her wrist. He raised a brow and went around behind the desk. Xena smiled and stood on the opposite side of the table.

"If you're such a powerful god then why are you running away from me?" Xena grinned and leaned on the table and Ares backed away slowly, close to the window.

* * *

Gabrielle was rounding the corner and heard yelling coming from Xena's office. Frowning she ran towards the room and heard a loud crash. Widening her eyes she looked inside and saw Ares backing away from Xena as they circled the middle of the room. The table was knocked over and parchment scattered everywhere. Gabrielle covered her mouth and stepped inside. Ares caught a glimpse of Gabrielle standing at the entrance.

"Oh Gabrielle! I'm glad you're here..." he mumbled. Xena turned her head and indeed there was her blonde friend standing there looking quite shocked.

"W-what... _what_ is going on in here?!" Gabrielle stepped over a chair and saw the room was a disaster now because the two of them made it so.

Ares shrugged casually, "well I was trying to reason with her but she just up and attacked me," Xena turned around and shot him a glare.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes turning to face Gabrielle. She looked more horrified at the mess than Ares being in the room. Ares snickered as he leaned against the wall watching the blonde's eyes wander the room in horror. He couldn't understand why she was so upset, it could easily be fixed, but it was nice to see that expression on her face.

"I know right? She's really destructive isn't she?" Ares called out to Gabrielle, gesturing to the chaos of the room. She slowly looked in his direction and frowned and began marching towards him. Xena grabbed her holding her close to her.

"Don't mind him. He's just being an annoying bastard, as usual," Xena frowned and Gabrielle wiggled out of Xena's hold, pushing her aside. "Gabrielle!" Xena blinked that she had actually pushed her just so she could get to Ares.

Gabrielle came up to the War God and pushed him backward. He raised an eyebrow at her allowing her to throw her hands into him repeatedly. "Are you going to do this all day?" he asked and gently poked her shoulder, sending her flying into the nearby wall. Xena's mouth gaped as she saw Gabrielle being thrown across the room like a ragdoll. She interfered. "Stop!" she demanded of Ares and he sighed. The empress hurried over to Gabrielle and lifted her up off the floor.

She looked at the gash on Gabrielle's forehead and frowned. Gabrielle slowly got up refusing Xena's lending hand or aid. "Gabrielle what are you doing?" Xena asked still kneeling on the floor. The blonde spat blood out of her mouth and came to stand in front of Ares. He smiled at her nodding his head.

"You're really persistent. Very... _unexpected_. I'm not here to fight you," he said and Gabrielle's eyebrows creased. His eyes went to Xena who was now standing and did not look happy to say the least. He held up his hands, "the two of you are quite a pair. Anyway, like I said, not here to fight, just to talk."

" _Sure_ you are," Gabrielle smirked and Ares growled at her. Xena came behind her companion, placing a hand on her shoulder gently. "If you're offering your help I suggest you leave." Gabrielle spat back and Xena smirked at her response.

Ares groaned, "Xena you need to get rid of her. She's ruining my entire mood!" he circled around himself and folded his arms. "Look, if you want to hear what I have to say, you know where to find me. Until then," he saluted to the two women and disappeared.

Xena exhaled loudly and Gabrielle turned around to face her, both glad he had gone. Xena expressed concern and touched Gabrielle's wound on her head. Gabrielle winced at her sudden touch causing Xena to retract her hand. "I'm so sorry about this." She sighed and then touched Gabrielle's swelling lip.

Gabrielle pushed Xena's hand away from her face. "What did he want Xena? Don't worry about me, I'm fine," she smiled.

"He said that Octavius and his army are already marching towards Greece," Xena eyed her confused consort and Gabrielle folded her arms. "I have Zenobia's men scouting the area, I would have gotten word from one of them by now, especially if Borias is with them."

Gabrielle shook her head, "he's so full of it," scoffing at Ares' arrogance. "Whatever he says is just another one of his tricks to entice you to act irrationally."

Xena nodded, "I know Gabrielle. I am able to see that now, because of you," she cupped Gabrielle's face in her palms and kissed her wounded forehead gently. She felt the heat radiating from Gabrielle's cheeks and a small grin appeared on both of their lips. "Come let me clean that wound," she grabbed her hand and lead her into her bedroom across the hallway.

Gabrielle sat on Xena's bed in the villa as Xena was preparing a water basin. She carried the bowl of water to the bed and slowly knelt down on her knees dipping the cloth in the water. Carefully, she dabbed Gabrielle's gash on her head and the blonde winced. Xena smiled and kept tending to the wound and Gabrielle watched her intently, focusing on her eyes. Xena was unaware of her constant staring and she sighed lightly.

"He didn't hurt you," she said out of the blue. Xena stopped and looked into Gabrielle's eyes before squeezing out the bloodied cloth in the water. "He hurt _you_. I'd rather him hit me than you, Gabrielle," the empress said as she dabbed the wound once more. "that bastard," she muttered.

Gabrielle halted Xena's aid grabbing her wrist softly. "If he hurt you I'd do things to him that he would never dream of."

Xena put the cloth in the water resting her hand in her lap. "Gabrielle no, I don't want you to succumb to that kind of hatred. Hurting others in revenge isn't always as sweet as everyone thinks. It never ends well and you end up hating yourself in the end..." her thoughts of her own self lingered in her mind.

Gabrielle touched Xena's cheek softly, "is that what you think of yourself? Do you hate yourself?" she asked. Xena smiled nervously and shook that thought off, pushing Gabrielle's hand aside. Focusing on the wound at hand she dabbed her forehead again with the damp cloth. "Xena, why are you avoiding my question?"

"It's not important. Your wound is more important," she half smiled and then Gabrielle took the cloth out of Xena's hand and threw it on the ground. She blinked and her mouth gaped slightly at her friend's sudden response. She grabbed Xena's hands in her own bending down so she was now close to her face. Xena's eyes widened as they were inches away from one another.

"Answer me Xena," she prompted.

The empress's eyes wandered and then looked to the floor. "I thought if I forgave myself...that it would erase everything I have done for all these years. I've tried to forgive myself, but I can't Gabrielle. I can't..."

Gabrielle stood up and helped Xena off the floor and sat them both on the bed. "I was able to forgive you, Xena. The things you did in your recent past are irrelevant now. You have so much to look forward to now," she smiled. "Your people have trust in you for the first time, Solan has his mother back and you have a daughter that has your love." She paused to look at Xena's reaction but she received a blank stare. "And you have my love too."

Xena turned her head to look at her friend and she felt tears swelling in her eyes. Gabrielle slowly came close to her face, a bit timid, she kissed Xena's cheek. She quickly stood up and lend her hand out for Xena. "Come on, I don't want you to be locked in your room this entire time." Xena quirked her lips to the side and Gabrielle nudged her head. "Let's go watch your men kick some butt," she chuckled. Xena shook her head at her friend's subtle joke, taking her hand she followed Gabrielle to the grounds.

* * *

Later in the evening Xena sat with Gabrielle at the dinner table alone just as she promised she would. Zenobia, Allat and Solan ate in a separate room not too far from them. The two women heard occasional laughs from the opposite room. Xena smirked as she heard Solan's rather rambunctious voice throughout the halls. Gabrielle giggled as she picked at her food on the plate.

Gabrielle eyed Xena throughout their silent meal. She had to ask just this one thing that had been bothering her all day. "Are you still upset at me?"

Xena stopped eating and frowned, "for what Gabrielle?"

"You know, for letting Solan be an archer commander," she shrugged and dug her fork in the pasta, twirling it around her utensil.

Xena placed her hand on Gabrielle's arm and smiled, "I trust your judgment Gabrielle." She patted her arm and then went back to eating. Speaking of Solan, he waltzed into the dining room with a glass of wine in his hand. He sauntered over to his mother and wrapped an arm around her. Xena jolted and chewed her food slowly staring up at him.

"I just want to thank you for allowing me to stay here mother. I am learning so much being with you!" he carried on as the wine was doing most of the talking. Gabrielle stifled a laugh at his bodacious behavior and the surprised look on Xena's face wasn't half bad either.

Xena pat Solan's hand and smiled, "well I'm glad you're having such a good time, Solan."

He sighed happily, "yes...good time," he drank from his glass and Xena smirked, continuing to eat her pasta. He peered down at his mother and grinned widely, "and how is my little sister doing?"

Xena choked at his unexpected question and Gabrielle hid her smug face. "Fine...she's fine," she answered quietly.

Solan nodded, "good, that's good." He began backing away slowly towards the exit. Both women eyed him carefully and he bumped into a chair. Xena raised an eyebrow at him and Gabrielle chuckled. "Gabrielle, keep my mother in check. You know, no stress and all," he winked and exited finally.

Xena eyed Gabrielle and saw she was now finding her food more interesting at the moment. "I wonder _where_ he got that saying from?" she shook her head and took a drink from her chalice. "Suddenly I feel like I'm the baby here."

Gabrielle started laughing and Xena set the chalice down eyeing her incuriously. "What's so funny?" she smirked.

The blonde shook her head, "nothing at all, Xena. This pasta is amazing, dontcha think?" she chuckled and Xena rolled her eyes, drinking her water gradually.

* * *

Zenobia was seated with her son and Solan at the table a room away from Xena and Gabrielle. One of Xena's men came running to Zenobia and gave her a letter. She set her fork down, wiping her mouth with a cloth she took the letter, opening the seal. Her eyes scanned the letter and it was from one of her men. Immediately scooting her chair out from underneath her she stood up. Allat saw his mother and halted his good conversation with Solan.

"What is it mother?" he asked and Solan sobered up almost instantly at the fearful eyes in Zenobia.

The Assyrian woman marched to the room next door and knocked on the wall. Xena looked up as she was smiling talking with Gabrielle quietly. "What's wrong?" Xena asked. Zenobia hastily made her way over to the empress and handed her the letter. Xena set her glass down and took the letter, reading it over quickly.

"What does it say Xena?" Gabrielle frowned.

Xena set the letter down on the table and rubbed her chin pensively. "Octavius and his men are coming to the outskirts of Greece."

Zenobia looked to Gabrielle then back at Xena. "With the time they are making I'm sure he'll be ready to attack in a week's time."

Xena immediately thought of Ares and his little message he told her. He was right and she felt her blood boiling. "That bastard," she mumbled. Zenobia furrowed her eyebrows at this odd response. Her eyes then traveled to Gabrielle and she straightened herself. "What is your call, Gabrielle?" she asked. Both brunette women eyed her carefully and Gabrielle fumbled.

"Well..." she felt the tension rising. "We should...get the men ready and leave first thing in the morning. If we leave by then we should be at least two days ahead of Octavius."

Zenobia nodded, "excellent plan, Gabrielle," she smiled and left the room to go alert her son and Solan.

The silence filled the air and Gabrielle suddenly felt more empowered than ever. Though she was worried about Xena's silent state. She hadn't said anything and she wasn't lashing out. No, she was too quiet.

"Xena, what are you thinking right now?" Gabrielle asked in a hushed tone.

Xena sneered, "we're going to kill them all," she stabbed the fork into the letter on the table and Gabrielle jumped at her response. That wasn't what she was expecting her to say at all.


	43. Chapter 43

**AN: finally getting to the battle, but only part I! Good luck everyone and thanks for going on this awesome journey with me :)**

_Chapter 41 –Field of Poppies Part I_

The Grecian army marched with Xena, Gabrielle and Zenobia in front of the line. They had been making their journey to the outskirts of Greece for two days now and would arrive in half a day if they did not stop again. Xena wanted to stake her territory and put up tents at the border of Greater Greece. Octavius must have taken a ship from Rome to Greece that was the only explanation for him being ahead of Xena and her army.

Xena and Gabrielle trotted slowly through the forest on their horses and Gabrielle felt knots in her stomach as she knew they'd be reaching their destination very soon. Xena appeared to be calm, a little too calm for Gabrielle's liking. She wore black pants, knee high boots, a black tunic and her armor was very minimal. Xena's black cape was draped along Argo as she tread carefully through the quiet forest. Gabrielle wore black armor, mimicking Xena's armor as did the soldiers. A sea of black was to approach the Roman's army, contrasting their bright red and gold armor. Xena wanted to make sure that herself and her men looked menacing enough to taunt the Roman Emperor's army.

A few paces behind was Solan, Allat and Borias on black horses riding behind the Assyrian Queen. Solan's eyes wandered and he wore black armor as well with a small black cape, wearing a silver Greek helmet with a black plume, matching Gabrielle's. He breathed out heavily as they were coming closer to the border. It wouldn't be long now.

Allat looked to the side and saw Solan was sweating and was casually talking to himself silently. He smiled and hit the blonde teen in the arm. Solan was knocked out of his daze and shook his head at Allat. "Don't be scared, Solan. I have faith in your mother. She is a great warrior." Borias heard their small conversation and smirked at the Assyrian King's comforting words to Solan.

Solan nodded, "yes I know she is. I just don't want to die," he managed to say. Allat frowned and slowed his trot to align with Solan. He eyed his mother ahead of them and she seemed to be listening but said nothing.

"You shouldn't think like that. Besides, Xena would kill someone if something happened to you," Allat whispered. Solan smiled softly. "She loves you," Allat grinned and trotted onward to catch up to Zenobia as she was riding alone behind Xena and Gabrielle.

Gabrielle rode closer to Xena and watched her expressionless face focused on the road ahead. "Xena, are you alright?" Xena responded with a simple nod of her head. "Do you think that we are ready? I mean, your men. I guess what I'm trying to say is...are you ready for this?"

Xena held up her hand, "Gabrielle you're talking too much," she said firmly with a blank face, keeping her head facing forward.

Gabrielle grunted, "so we're back to _this_ again?" she pulled the reigns of the horse trying to keep a fair distance from Xena and Argo. She remembered all those times when Xena would get irritated at her for talking or spouting off her 'philosophical bullshit' as Xena called it. that was last year when they were not on good terms, but now it was different. Xena was deliberately shutting her out and acting as if she were annoyed at her for no apparent reason, once again. Gabrielle frowned and nudged her horse to come in front of Xena and block Argo. Xena pulled Argo's reigns halting her.

"What are you doing? Get out of the way Gabrielle!" Xena yelled and everyone behind abruptly stopped. Gabrielle and her horse stayed in front of Xena, refusing to move.

Gabrielle called out to everyone, "we're going to rest here for awhile!" she told everyone and Xena glared at her blonde friend. "We need to talk," she told Xena and dismounted her horse tying it to a nearby tree. Xena groaned beneath her breath and got off Argo.

* * *

Half an hour later Gabrielle had made a small campfire in an open part of the forest. The army was scattered around, talking amongst themselves. Zenobia and Borias sat together off in a distance about war tactics. Solan and Allat sat with a few of the soldiers, casually playing a game that Allat suggested Solan learn, to keep his mind off the nearing battle.

Meanwhile Xena sat on the ground staring at Gabrielle as she poked at the fire with a long stick. "What is this about Gabrielle?" she finally asked. They hadn't talked in the last half hour and the silence was beginning to bother her.

Gabrielle sighed and set the stick aside, facing opposite Xena she laced her fingers together. "You have been treating me like I'm an annoying child again. I don't like it."

Xena scoffed at the idea, completely dismissing Gabrielle's accusation. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Xena! You barely said two words to me these passed two days! What's up with that?" she yelled and a few eyes looked their way. She sighed, rubbing her head anxiously. "Look, I can't read your mind. If something is bothering you, you can tell me," she said softly.

The raven haired empress fidgeted her fingers in her lap and shied her eyes away from Gabrielle's intense glare. "I am just...in the first time in my life I am nervous about a battle, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle hung her head lowly and sighed. "It's normal to feel that way, Xena. It's because you care about your people, your men, your son and everyone else involved in this. You're different now but I have faith in you that we will win." She scooted closer and placed her hand on Xena's armored shoulder brace. "You put me in charge, right? So you must have faith in me or I can't go in and command this army like you want me to, alright?"

Xena nodded. "War is a terrible thing and I hope you do not become accustomed to it."

The blonde grinned, "to be honest. It has been a dream of mine to be in charge of an army." Xena slyly smiled, both began chuckling quietly to themselves until they heard Solan yell out loudly as it appeared he won the game that he and Allat were playing. "Well it's nice to see he's having a good time," Gabrielle said and Xena peered behind her to see Solan with his hands in the air, arguing with Allat because the Assyrian claimed he was cheating in the game. She smirked shaking her head at Solan and his stubbornness.

* * *

The following day after a few hours rest the day before they had arrived to the border of Greater Greece and the Roman Empire. Xena, Gabrielle, Zenobia, Solan, Allat and Borias trotted to the hill, overlooking a sea of red poppy flowers. A peaceful sight to see and the wind gently blew across the field. All sat on their horses in a straight row looking out at the silent impending battlefield.

Gabrielle closed her eyes as the breeze picked up speed, enjoying the fresh crisp air. A poppy flew across her face and onto her gauntlet. Opening her eyes she held the poppy in her palm, watching the petals gently flow in the subtle wind, then it wisped away into the sky. Her eyes traveled up at the poppy flying in the air and then looked over at Xena who appeared to be in some sort of trance again.

"the Romans say that the poppy symbolizes death," Solan spoke up, disturbing the eerie silence. He stared out into the red poppy field and furrowed his eyebrows. All eyes were on him and he turned his head to see distressed looks on all their faces. "He chose this place on purpose." He said and trotted off the hill back to the men as they were making camp.

Zenobia and Allat followed Solan shortly after, leaving Gabrielle, Xena and Borias at the hill top alone. Xena's long hair blew in the wind as she continued to stare at the red field of poppies. _A perfect place for death._ She felt Gabrielle's hand touch hers and she was brought out of her trance.

"I'm going to discuss battle plans with Zenobia. You will come join me, yes?" she asked and Xena nodded patting her hand softly. "I will catch up with you." Gabrielle didn't seem satisfied with that answer but she wasn't going to argue. She rode down the hill and back to the campsite to meet with Zenobia.

Borias trotted closer to Xena, looking out at the poppy field with her in silence. "Bring back memories, Xena?" he asked quietly.

Xena shook her head, "no." he eyed her carefully with a slight frown. She turned her head to stare into his dark eyes. "Because this time, I'm going to win," she said with a firm voice and pulled on Argo's reigns, riding down the hill.

* * *

Octavius arrived with his army on the opposite side of the poppy field. He squinted his eyes, taking off his golden helm. He was able to see smoke coming from the opposite side of the battlefield as well as Xena's large Greek eye flag gently swaying in the wind. He smiled and nudged his general standing next to him.

"Have a messenger go to Xena's camp and tell her we have arrived." He instructed. The messenger boy looked frightened and knew that it'd definitely be a death wish if he was to go to Xena's campsite. The sun was setting and the Roman Emperor got off his horse retreating to his tent that was put up awhile ago. "We attack in the morning," he told Tiberius. He laid out a map of the battlefield and struck his dagger in the middle of Athens where Xena's Empire was. "I'm going to wipe you out Xena," he grinned deviously.

* * *

The sun had set now and Solan was out with Allat surveying the camp grounds. Solan was to make sure that there weren't going to be any surprise attacks. Xena, Gabrielle and Zenobia were in Xena's tent altogether discussing tactics and strategies. As Solan's eyes wandered the dark area he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. He was able to see lights from the opposite side of the poppy field. He knew instantly that was Octavius and his men. Solan had spent his entire childhood with Octavius and his sister, Octavia, and now he was fighting against his other family. He didn't know whether he should feel bad about attacking them or not but he instantly thought of his mother and knew that he could not let her down. Truth be told, he was enjoying himself in Athens and had really come to like spending time with his mother and with Gabrielle as well.

He felt a hand come to his shoulder and he spun around only to see it was Borias standing next to him. He sighed heavily, "you scared me," Solan said a bit embarrassed.

Borias looked out at the Roman camp far from Xena's and he folded his arms. "Did your mother...did she ever tell you what happened in Rome fifteen years ago?"

Solan stared at him a bit perplexed and shook his head. "We were on the way to Cyprus but a letter from Caesar was sent to her," Borias began and sighed. "She told her men to turn the ship around and head to Rome."

"She wanted to kill Caesar, didn't she?" Solan asked.

Borias arched his brow, "yes," he paused. "and she failed." Solan held his head down and Borias continued, "her camp was destroyed. An order from Caesar himself," he smirked. "We both left the camp to the southern pass." Solan's dark eyes looked at Borias, fearing what he was going to say next.

"She didn't want to leave the camp, but because of you, we had to leave," he said quietly.

Solan furrowed his brows and frowned, "because of me?"

"We traveled to the southern pass and gave birth to you there. Then after that, she told me to take you away." He said quietly and saw the anger in Solan's eyes. "If it makes you feel better, she didn't want to give you away. She even cried," Borias smirked.

Solan eyed him and peered back at his mother's tent. Borias looked at Solan and his face changed from anger to remorse in a split second. His emotions were much like Xena's in the sense that they could change at the mention of one thing to another. Solan thought of his mother as strong and never really seen her cry at all even if she started to, she always stopped herself. "She cried?" he asked not quite believing his father. Borias nodded in response and looked out to the dark battlefield.

"This battle must mean a lot to her then. She won't fail this time," he said quite confident of himself and his mother.

Borias was about to say something and then saw someone running with a torch in hand. He ran towards the hill and Solan followed him. "A spy?" Solan asked. Borias frowned and unsheathed his sword waiting for the Roman to approach.

The Roman messenger made it to the top of the hill and saw Borias and Solan waiting for him with blades in hand. He dropped to his knees pleading with his hands together. "Please," he breathed heavily. "a letter for Xena," he grabbed the scroll from his pocket and handed it to them. Solan arched a brow and quickly snatched the scroll from the young man.

"I'll give this to mother," Solan said and sheathed his blade running to the tent. Borias smiled looking at the helpless messenger. He kicked him to the ground and sliced the man's throat. Instantaneous death.

Xena rubbed her chin as she sat with Gabrielle and Zenobia going over strategies for their first attack. Solan abruptly ran into the tent a bit breathless. He handed Xena the scroll and she eyed him carefully, gradually taking the letter from his grasp. She handed it to Gabrielle and she opened the seal quickly.

"Octavius is going to attack in the morning," Gabrielle announced. Solan pursed his lips and Xena stared at Gabrielle intensely. Both shared a thought together and Zenobia sat in silence awaiting the next command.

"then we should get ready," Xena said and stood up grabbing her helm. Gabrielle left the tent to go alert the men in the camps to spread the word about tomorrow.

Solan caught up to Xena and grabbed her hand. She halted in her step and stared at her son. "If I haven't said it enough, I want to say it again. I love you," he said.

Xena cocked her head to the side and put a hand to his cheek. "I love you too Solan," she smiled and kissed his forehead softly, leaving his side to join Gabrielle. Solan watched her descend into darkness and he huffed, running to tell Allat what the plans were now.

* * *

The morning sun had risen quite early and it beamed down on the metal armor of all the soldiers. Altogether the entire army assembled in the field, waiting for the Roman army to create their stance. Xena, Gabrielle, Borias and Zenobia sat on their horses at the hill top overseeing the field. Once red of poppies, now was black from the men stomping on the flower beds. Xena put on her silver helmet, donned with a large fan shaped black plume. Gabrielle copied Xena and set her black plumed helm atop her head, adjusting it to her head.

Gabrielle looked to Xena and her face was barely visible behind her helmet. She saw her eyes and lips quiver at the sight of the battlefield. Turning her head she finally saw the large Roman army emerging from the opposite hill top and they huddled together with their shields covering their bodies. She breathed out slowly, looking down she saw Allat was in the front line of the men and Solan in the very back with the archers.

As the four waited on the hilltop Xena's army halted and the front line of men carrying the Grecian flag swayed in the air graciously. The roman army halted as well, at least six hundred paces from the Grecian army. The archers in the back row knelt down and pulled back their arrows in their large war bows. Xena watched in silence and Gabrielle frowned.

"Xena...they're not doing anything," she said quietly.

"Wait for it Gabrielle," Xena reassured her.

Solan stood in the back row of the archers and nodded his head at them. They nodded back and pulled their arrows, while others lit the arrows on fire and released them high into the air. The roman men saw the flaming black sky of arrows approaching and immediately created a dome of shields, though not quick enough. Cries were heard as the arrows struck a good amount of the front line. Solan saw the Romans advancing and quickly. The Grecian army marched forward and loud clashes of swords were heard as well as wails of agony. His eyes widened, as seeing war for the first time was quite frightening and not exactly what he was expecting. Frowning he yelled out, "again!" the archers pulled back their arrows and fired once more. He saw that the arrows had penetrated not only the Romans but some of Xena's own men. He sighed, "again!" he commanded.

Gabrielle and Xena watched from the hill top and saw the sea of black and red clashing into one another. Gabrielle pulled the reigns on her horse, "I'm going down there to help," she said and Xena's eyes widened.

"Gabrielle no!" she yelled and she stopped, staring back at the empress.

"I'm the commander of this army, Xena. I'm going down there!" she said defiantly and rode down the hill to meet with Allat in the front line. Xena growled and remained on Argo, watching Gabrielle retreat to the men below.

Zenobia folded her arms, "it seems Octavius has more men than we anticipated." She admitted.

"Bring out the catapults then," Xena demanded and Zenobia rode to the men standing aside on the hill.

Borias blinked and came closer to Xena. "Catapults? I can't say I am not impressed," he smugly smiled.

Octavius walked out from underneath the canopy and saw Xena had catapults on the back row of the army. "She's insane," his mouth gaped.

* * *

Gabrielle arrived at the front line and jumped off her horse unsheathing her sword, immediately slicing a Roman coming in her direction and thrust the blade into a torso of a Roman behind her. Her ears perked up as she heard a snapping sound from behind and crackling of fire. She turned and saw Xena had released the catapults. Her mouth gaped and she started running away as far as possible before the projectile could hit the affected area. Although too late it hit the ground and Gabrielle hit the poppy flowers face first a few feet away. She groaned and stood up slowly. She looked around for her sword but it was gone, hidden beneath the poppies. Frantically she began searching for it and a strong sting came to her back. Gabrielle yelled in agony as a Roman had slashed her back, creating a large gash. She fell to the ground and the Roman came at her lifting the blade higher in the air.

She gritted her teeth and kicked the man in the groin, grabbing his arms and threw him over her body. As she was about to get up she saw a spear being thrown and hit the Roman through his chest. She turned around and saw Allat on his horse. He smiled and grabbed her arm hoisting her up on the stallion. "Thanks," she said breathlessly.

"Xena didn't say anything about using catapults!" he yelled as he lunged his sword into another Roman while riding on his horse. Gabrielle grabbed a dagger from her boot and stabbed another from the right side. "She's full of surprises!" she smiled and they rode through the middle of the field where all the action was.

* * *

Zenobia thrust her arm forward once more and the men fired the catapults again. Xena trotted close to Borias and saw he had a bow and arrow on the back of his horse. Without thinking she grabbed the bow and rode to the downwards off the hill. Borias' mouth gaped and he grunted. "Xena!" he called out and went after her.

Xena stayed far away from the men, but a Roman came to attack her, she grabbed her sword and thrust it into his torso, kicking his now lifeless body away from her, she continued onward to a separate hilltop. Finally alone she eyed Octavius, squinting one eye she used her geometry skills to align the kill perfectly. She was close enough but far enough to where he wouldn't notice. She licked her fingers and notched the arrow in place. As she drew the bow heavily, the top limb began to creak from the stress of the taut string.

Borias rode down and sliced through a few Romans with ease. He caught a glimpse of Xena and looked at where the arrow was pointed and his eyes grew. He then looked behind Xena and saw a Roman soldier with a bow and arrow pointing it directly at Xena. Kicking the horse he rode over to the archer and jumped off the horse, tackling the Roman to the ground. He shot the arrow towards Xena.

Xena drew the arrow back further getting ready to shoot and she felt something graze her calf and she wailed in agony. She let go of the arrow and it flew it in the direction of Octavius, ultimately missing him due to the distraction. Xena hissed and looked down at her calf, now bleeding and her pants torn. The arrow had grazed her skin, missing her main arteries luckily. She spun around and saw Borias on the ground wrestling a Roman with a bow on the ground.

Borias pinned down the Roman and the man squirmed beneath him. Head butting Borias with his helm, he was knocked down to the ground, buried in the poppies. The Roman grabbed a dagger from his hip and stabbed Borias directly in the chest.

Xena saw the dagger and her eyes widened, immediately riding towards the fight she unsheathed her sword, jumping off Argo she plunged the blade through his backside, exiting through the Roman's heart. The man gasped in pain and blood poured from his mouth. She slowly took the bloody blade out of the man's body and he fell limp to the ground. The red poppies the same color as his blood.

She threw her sword aside taking off her grand helm and knelt down as Borias lay there with the dagger still in his chest. Her hands shook as she took the blade out and blood seeped from the wound. She covered the wound with her hands and her breath was labored.

Borias' hand went to hers and she looked into his eyes, feeling her own eyes swelling with tears. He reached out touching her cheek with his blood stained hand. His chest rose and fell slowly for the final time and smiled at her. Xena held onto his hand and kissed his palm softly. Her cheek now covered in bloody fingerprints she sighed, hanging her head lowly. She allowed his hand to fall from her grasp and the battle behind her was loud and prominent. "I'm sorry," she said and grabbed his sword from his hilt, slowly standing up she donned her helm once more, grabbing her own sword sheathing it. Mounting Argo she frowned at the battle, her eyes scanned the area and she saw Gabrielle fighting back to back with Allat.

Her eyes continued to search for Solan and she saw he was not where he was before. Riding towards everyone she and Gabrielle looked to one another. Gabrielle growled and sliced through a Roman. She ran towards Xena with a stern face.

"Xena! What are you doing out here?! I thought you were going to stay back like we agreed!" she yelled and Xena threw her sword at a Roman coming up behind Gabrielle. The blonde turned and breathed heavily. " _Okay_...thanks," she sighed heavily and Xena lend out her hand to her to climb aboard.

They road through the outskirts of the battle and Xena continued looking for Solan. "Where's Borias?" Gabrielle yelled through the loud battle.

"He didn't make it," Xena responded quietly and halted Argo. Gabrielle held onto Xena's shoulder bracers and leaned her head against her back, not quite sure how to respond to that. She remained silent. Another projectile landed a few feet away from Xena and Gabrielle. Argo reigned backward and Gabrielle grabbed hold of Xena tighter, wrapping her arms around her making sure she wouldn't fall off. Xena groaned and pulled the reigns to calm the horse.

Xena saw Solan laying in the poppies and her heart stopped for a moment. Gabrielle looked forward and then Argo charged forward barely giving her time to react, almost falling off the horse again. Xena laid eyes on Solan and she jumped off Argo carefully and hastily made her way to Solan, whom laid in the flowers. Gabrielle grabbed the sword on Argo and thrust it into a few Romans, keeping them away from the empress.

Xena knelt down and slapped Solan's cheeks softly. "Solan," she said quietly and held his head in her lap. "Solan!" she called out and slapped his cheek once more. She brought her ear to his nose and heard him breathing faintly. She smiled and kissed his hand softly."Good boy", taking a good look at his body she saw his right arm was broken and his left leg was as well. He had many cuts on his face as well. "Gabrielle come help me!" she yelled out and lifted Solan's upper body off the ground.

Gabrielle huffed and punched a Roman in the face and came to aid Xena. She saw Solan was lying there in the flowers unconscious. She quickly grabbed his legs and grunted as they both pulled him up off the ground. She widened her eyes and grunted as they carried Solan's dead weight. "By the gods he is heavy for a thin boy!"

Allat rode up on his horse breathlessly. "The Romans are retreating!" he announced and then saw Xena and Gabrielle trying to carry Solan. Becoming concerned he jumped off his horse and pushed Xena aside politely and grabbed Solan underneath his arms as Gabrielle carried the weight of his legs. Together they put him on top of Xena's horse, belly first and he limply laid his arms and legs on either side of Argo.

"You said retreat?" Xena said and mounted Argo, readjusting Solan as he lay in front of her saddle. Gabrielle folded her arms and looked at the now emptying battlefield.

"They'll be back. They're going to recoup." Gabrielle frowned and Xena nodded her head, pulling Argo's reigns close to her. Gabrielle looked to Xena and saw her eyes were glimmering, not out of anger but sadness. "Do you want Allat and I to retrieve Borias' body?" she asked quietly.

Xena wiped her nose with her fingers and sighed, looking at the red poppy field. "Yes. If anyone deserves a proper burial it should be Borias," she grinned and turned Argo 'round to go back to camp as the Romans had now disappeared from the battlefield. Allat and Gabrielle looked to one another as Xena left and sighed heavily.

"I hope Solan is alright," Allat said with concern. Gabrielle nodded and mounted Allat's horse going on a search for Borias' body.

* * *

The sun had set and the Romans retreated back to their camp. Octavius threw his wine glass across his tent. "She tried to assassinate me!" he grew angrier just thinking about it. "She missed," he tapped his chin. "That's unlike her," he frowned. "We attack again in the morning!" he demanded and left the tent to alert his general.

Tiberius wiped his brow. Such a battle and they had lost so many men already. He and the Roman Emperor were not expecting Xena to use catapults in the battle, which threw them for a loop. They were beginning to feel out numbered.

"Tell the men to create some bombs," Octavius commanded Tiberius. He nodded and went immediately to tell the infantry soldiers what the new plans were. "She truly is insane." He said.

* * *

Gabrielle and Allat had found Borias' body after an hour of searching the field. They set his body up on a pyre. Xena was handed a lit torch by Gabrielle and she lit the pyre on fire, allowing the flames to scorch the wood. After a few minutes of watching the flames Gabrielle covered her mouth and then she heard Xena singing softly aloud. She raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at Xena, singing a foreign song, something she'd never expected to come out of Xena's mouth –such a beautiful and melodious voice she had.

After a minute or so of Xena singing she stopped and left the pyre going back to her tent. Gabrielle kept staring at the flaming pyre and her eyes turned to see Xena entering her tent. Allat had helped her with Solan putting him inside of her tent to be treated for his wounds.

Gabrielle entered Xena's tent silently and saw her fixing Solan's splints on his leg and arm, while he still lay asleep soundly. He was going to be in for a rude awakening when he wakes up. She slowly came and sat next to the cot Solan laid upon and took a damp cloth dabbing Solan's face of the bloody cuts.

"I didn't know you could sing," Gabrielle said quietly.

Xena smiled softly, wiping her nose with her fingers as she sniffled in a hushed manner. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Gabrielle," she looked into her friend's green eyes and finished wrapping Solan's leg.

Gabrielle rung out the bloody water and grinned. "You have a beautiful voice, Xena. You should sing more often." Xena smirked and touched Solan's cheek as he lay there sleeping soundly. "I'm sorry...about Borias. I could see he truly loved you."

Xena nodded, "he did. Too bad I didn't realize it until now," she smiled and Gabrielle came to wipe the bloody fingerprints off Xena's cheek. "Thanks," she touched her cheek unconsciously. Solan began stirring awake then both Xena and Gabrielle straightened up, looking at him intently.

He began groaning and yelling in agony as he felt his arm and leg were stiffened, and repositioned. Xena sat on the cot and grabbed his hand allowing him to squeeze her hand tightly. "shh, Solan. You're fine," she smiled. "But your arm and leg are broken..." she bit her lip and Solan groaned in pain.

"I...I don't remember what happened," he hissed and tried to sit up. Gabrielle gently pushed him back down on the pillow. "So many Romans..."

Xena grinned, "don't worry you'll be alright. You just need to stay here and rest."

Solan looked into his mother's blue eyes, those warm eyes which stared back into his dark pools. "Is...is it over?" he asked, gritting his teeth from the pain.

Gabrielle shook her head, "Octavius pulled back his army. He'll attack again in the morning."

Solan nodded and leaned back on the pillow exhaling slowly. "Then we're going to kick some Roman ass."

Xena's mouth gaped at his open response and Gabrielle stifled a laugh. "Solan!" she reprimanded. He grinned and then hissed in pain. He looked down and saw Xena's calf had a large gash in it and he frowned. "You're hurt," he said quietly. Xena looked down and half smiled.

"Just a scratch," she reassured him. Gabrielle then took notice of the gash and folded her arms. "I'm going to get something to dull the pain for you," she stood up and exited the tent with Gabrielle following her quickly.

"Hey! What happened to staying put?" Gabrielle called out and when Xena didn't answer she chuckled knowingly. She pulled her aside. "What did you do? Or what did you _try_ to do?" she raised a brow folding her arms defensively.

Xena smiled sheepishly. "I tried to assassinate Octavius. Though, it was unsuccessful," she snarled. Gabrielle gasped and punched Xena in her shoulder brace.

"Xena! Are you out of your mind?" she yelled out and some of the men turned to look their way.

Xena rubbed her head and smiled with wide eyes. "Some may say that," she continued walking to get some herbs from a pouch she had tied to Argo's saddle. "Look Gabrielle, he's not dead so there's nothing to talk about."

Gabrielle scoffed and threw her hands in the air. "You almost killed the Roman emperor! You would sentenced to death for that, you know?"

The empress shrugged, "if they can catch me," she winked.

"That's not funny. I don't like it when you joke like that, Xena. This was your plan all along. I can't believe you!" she groaned in frustration and began pacing back and forth.

Xena spun around and gripped the pouch of herbs in her hand. "Gabrielle...I don't need a lecture right now!"

Gabrielle sighed and followed Xena back to her tent. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you and the baby. I just want you to be safe," she rubbed Xena's arm and the warrior woman smiled.

"Thank you Gabrielle for your concern. But this is not over yet, we have tomorrow." She was about to enter the tent until her blonde companion pulled her aside.

"When are you going to tell Solan?" she whispered.

Xena opened the flap and saw Solan groaning in agony. "Tomorrow. Not tonight," she entered the tent and smiled at Solan, sitting next to him. "Hey," she poured a small bag of herbs into hot water and stirred it with a spoon. "I want you to drink this, it'll subside the pain for awhile." She lifted his head and helped him drink the tea. He coughed and laid back down.

"Tastes awful!" he spat to the side of the cot and Xena smiled. Gabrielle shook her head at the young teen's obstinacy, reminding her of _someone_.


	44. Chapter 44

**AN: this chapter is pretty war-heavy combined with some fluff/angst and quite long inevitably. Enjoy ;)  
and there will probably be a part III to this battle. Good luck everyone.**

_Chapter 42 –Field of Poppies Part II_

Gabrielle sat in front of Xena on the floor of her large tent as she tended to Gabrielle's back wound. Solan still lay in the cot on the far side of the tent, conscious and wide awake, occasionally releasing soft moans of agony from his broken arm and leg. Xena dabbed Gabrielle's wound with some herbs and Gabrielle winced at the touch.

"The both of you need to stop moaning in pain, you're starting to give me a headache," Xena said and wiped her fingers along Gabrielle's wounded spine.

"Well it hurts!" Gabrielle said aloud and tensed up as Xena's fingers traced her open wound. She definitely was not being as gentle as she could have been. Gabrielle had bothered Xena about the large gash on her calf and she treated it well, wrapping her leg with gauze. Xena wiped her hands with a moist cloth and exhaled heavily.

"All done, Gabrielle," she patted her shoulder and stood up going over to check up on Solan and his condition. She smiled and stepped aside the cot to grab the pillows and blankets to make the sleeping mats up on the opposite side of the tent.

Solan turned his head and saw his mother moving everything to the other side of the tent. He lifted his head and sighed. "am I being a burden to you two?" he asked.

Xena turned throwing the pillows and blankets down on the floor. "You're never a burden, Solan." Gabrielle crawled across the floor and began spreading out the blankets and pillows for her and Xena to sleep on. Xena walked over to the table and poured more of the herbs into the hot water and Solan's eyes widened, immediately tensing his lips, closing them tightly. She sat down on the edge of the cot and pushed the drink towards his mouth. "It will make the pain go away for awhile."

He shook his head and she frowned pushing the tea closer to his mouth. He instantly refused it. "Solan, come on! Stop acting like a baby and just drink it!" her voice more firm with a hint of frustration. He relented and sipped some of the tea and reluctantly swallowed.

"It tastes so terrible..." he complained.

Xena nodded and forced him to take a few more sips of the tea. "Yes I know but it's for your own good."

Gabrielle chuckled and stood up as she finished making up their bed. "You should listen to your mother, Solan." She enticed and received a glare from the teenager, though he continued drinking the concoction until it was gone. He plopped his head back on the pillow and groaned, feeling the warm liquid travel down his throat. The awful taste was still present in his mouth and he crinkled his nose. Xena poured some water from a vase and handed it to him. He chugged the water to get the horrible taste of the tea off his tongue.

Xena stood up patting Solan's leg lightly and went to the other side of the tent, taking off her upper body armor. A sigh of relief escaped from her mouth as she was now free of the tight hold of the armor on her shoulders and chest. Now wearing her sleeveless tunic she slipped off her pants, which were now torn, throwing them aside. Gabrielle sat down and took off her boots taking her time.

Solan lifted his head and saw Xena brushing her hair staring at herself in the mirror. He quirked his mouth to the side and she caught a glimpse of his stare then grinned at him continuing to brush her long raven locks.

"Mother?" he called out and Xena acknowledged his voice and kept brushing her hair. "Will you tell me about when I was born?" his question had lingered in his mind ever since Borias told him about it the other day.

Xena stopped brushing her hair and Gabrielle stared up at Xena as she continued unlacing her boots. She set down the brush and ran her fingers through her hair leisurely. "Why the sudden curiosity?" she asked quietly.

He laid his head back down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling of the tent. "I...never heard it before," he lied.

Xena nervously smiled. "I don't think you want to hear that story, Solan." She stood shaking her head and began anxiously organizing her belongings trying to distract herself from his question.

He lifted his upper body up and leaned against the tent's wall gently. He groaned as he tried to move his broken leg. "Yes I do. I know you don't like telling stories so maybe Gabrielle could tell me?" he smiled hopefully. Gabrielle looked at Solan with a clueless expression and fumbled. Her eyes went to Xena and she peered down at her. "Do you know the story, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle scratched her head and half smiled. "Well...I mean, yes I do, but..." her eyes traveled to Xena again and she had a forlorn look on her face.

"Come on Gabrielle," he pleaded child-like. Gabrielle sighed and Xena nudged her head for her to go sit by Solan. She grabbed a wineskin and her cloak, wrapping it around herself.

"I will go...get some more water," Xena said awkwardly and Gabrielle rubbed her black skirt, making her way to sit next to Solan. She grinned at him not sure how to start a story like that especially since Xena left her alone.

"Did I upset her?" Solan asked with a small frown.

Gabrielle shook her head and crossed one leg over the other. "No, she's just tired." She took a long pause and the silence thickened between him and her. "Are you _sure_ you want to hear this story?" she asked hopeful that he'd change his mind. Solan nodded his head slowly and she exhaled warily.

* * *

Xena came to the edge of the camp, wrapping the cloak around her tightly as the temperature had dropped. Both her and Gabrielle knew she wasn't coming out here for water since they had plenty in the tent. The truth was, she didn't really know if she could stay in the same room as Solan as Gabrielle told him that story about her past. She threw the empty wineskin on the grass and folded her arms, staring out at the dark skies. She saw lights from Octavius' camp as she stood there. Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought of earlier in the day. She almost had him and because of that stupid soldier, she missed her kill.

She sighed rubbing her nose with her fingers. Though she should really be thanking Borias since that soldier was trying to do the same thing she was trying to do to Octavius. He stopped that Roman because he wanted to save her. The more she thought about it, the more angry she became at herself for even going out into the field to do that. She promised herself, Gabrielle and Eve that she would not get in the way of the fighting, though she disobeyed herself because she wanted to kill Octavius. Staring at the bow on Borias' horse she couldn't give up the perfect opportunity to kill the emperor, though it ultimately backfired and resulted in her friend's death.

Xena set her palm on her forehead, sighing loudly, cursing to herself. If she had not gone into the field then Borias would probably have been alive so she blamed herself for that –for his death.

After awhile of standing outside she figured she had been absent long enough. Bending down she grabbed the wineskin and head back to the tent to face the imminent awkwardness.

* * *

Gabrielle abruptly stopped talking and her and Solan looked to Xena entering the tent. Solan eyed the still empty wineskin and he smiled, knowing she wasn't really going for water. "I thought you were going to get water?"

Xena took off her cloak and raised her eyebrows, now aware that she hadn't come back with anything. She tossed the wineskin on the floor and her lips pursed. "I...I decided not to get any water," she smiled, nodding her head trying to reassure herself more than anybody. Solan eyed her carefully and Gabrielle rubbed her lips together trying to devise a way to get out of this weird situation. She had told Solan everything he needed to know.

"Father told me that you cried," Solan announced and Xena stopped in the middle of organizing her weapons on her side of the tent. Gabrielle stood up, now it was her turn to make the grand exit.

"I'm going to check on my horse. I left something..." she smiled anxiously and quickly left the tent. Xena set the sword aside and Solan kept staring at her backside as she refused to turn around.

Xena grinned, "did he?" she said aloud and then frowned, turning her head looking over her shoulder. "I thought you said you never heard that story before?" she raised an eyebrow. Solan shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "I see." She nodded her head and folded her arms then began organizing more of her things.

Solan smiled at his mother as she was trying to ignore him. "I used to be mad at you. My uncle –I mean...Octavius, told me he didn't know who my parents were." He sighed, "he said it didn't matter."

Xena pursed her lips and her eyes frantically wandered around the room. She clenched her fist on the table, feeling her fingernails dig into her palm. "And...what about now?" she asked quietly.

The teen looked to his mother who seemed a bit distressed. "I think it doesn't matter," Xena eyed him cautiously and he started chuckling at her shocked face. "I mean...I am with you now so...it doesn't really matter what he told me all those years ago. He told me that my parents didn't care about me, but I can see now..." Xena's eyes widened and he felt his words needed to be chosen wisely. "They care about me a lot," he smiled. Xena nodded her head at his response and came to sit beside him. She stroked his arm gently and tightened her lips. "I haven't even seen Borias, I mean...my father, at all since this morning."

Xena sighed, "Solan, there's something I need to tell you. It was supposed to wait until tomorrow but..." she smiled solemnly.

"What is it?" he asked curiously. Xena then walked over to the weapons across the other side of the tent, grabbing Borias' sword. She sat beside him once more and held the blade in her lap.

She inhaled deeply, "your father, he...while you were on the battlefield I decided to do something, something very...stupid," she smiled. "And unfortunately it resulted in his death earlier today. He tried to save me from a Roman assassin."

Solan blinked, not quite expecting that news. He had not really known Borias for too long but now he would never know him to the full extent since he was dead. It was amazing, seeing someone one day and they're gone the next. He rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply. "Well...at least he saved you," he expressed a small sad smile.

Xena bit her bottom lip nervously. "I don't know what to say. I don't think an apology is really what you want to hear..." she looked at his dark eyes and saw he too didn't know what to say either. She brought the blade forward and smiled softly. "I think he would want you to have this."

He grabbed the blade and lifted it in the air, admiring the blade and its unique craftsmanship. It definitely wasn't a sword of Greece or Rome but somewhere from the Far East lands. He smiled at his mother. "Really? I can keep it?" he asked innocently.

Xena smiled, "yes you can keep it." a moment passed by and she frowned. "Can you forgive me?" Solan seemed a bit confused at her words and he smiled at her warmly. "For what?"

"For...everything," she sheepishly looked into his warm eyes. "I wasn't there for you...and now I took something from you, _again_ ," she sighed.

Solan reached forward and tried to hug his mother but she pushed him back down. "I already forgave you, mother." She smiled at this and then he looked down at his broken limbs.

"How long until my leg and arm heal?" Solan's eyes expressed pure anxiety and sadness all in one. Xena shook her head. "A couple of months, I'm afraid," she grinned. Solan's mouth gaped at this.

"A couple of months?!" he groaned. "Aw man," sighing he laid the sword on his lap, slightly hissing at the pain growing in his arm. He looked down at the sword and bobbed his head slowly. "I'm going to take great care of this!" he smiled grandly and Xena ruffed his short hair with her fingers. "Hey!" he ran his fingers through his hair and Xena smiled, getting up from the cot and Gabrielle entered the tent after a long walk she took to 'check on her horse'.

Gabrielle looked at the two of them and pursed her lips. "so...the horse is fine," she smiled.

Xena smirked, "that's good news, Gabrielle." She made her way to the blankets and laid down exhaling graciously. Thankful that she was able to just lay down for awhile, even if it was for a short time. Gabrielle saw Borias' sword in Solan's lap and he moved it to rest against the wall of the tent. She smiled and helped him lay back down comfortably before she made her way to lay down next to Xena.

She blew out the remaining candles and took off the rest of her armor, laying down next to Xena, snuggling beneath the blankets. She tapped Xena's shoulder gently. "Did you tell him?" she whispered.

"Yes," Xena answered quietly. She felt Gabrielle's hand squeeze her shoulder and she opened her eyes staring in the darkness while her back was turned to her friend's.

"I'm sorry about Borias, Xena." She comforted her and Xena pat Gabrielle's hand. "It's alright Gabrielle." She then slowly let her hand fall off Xena's shoulder and brought the covers close to her face, feeling the sudden breeze enter the tent.

After a few silent moments Xena continued to stare into the darkness and heard Solan mumbling to himself, probably trying to get comfortable. A single tear streamed down her face as she lay there in silence.

* * *

A few of Octavius' soldiers crawled on their bellies in Xena's camp as the sun was rising. Three of the soldiers eyed the camp carefully and saw the largest tent not far from them, figuring it was Xena's tent. Each grabbed a handmade grenade from their pouches and lit the ends of the powdered bombs, throwing them inside Xena's camp. Quickly they ran from the camp into the poppy field far enough from the explosions.

They waited until they heard the loud explosion and a few of the tents burst into flames. The three soldiers smiled and ran back to their Roman camp as fast as they could.

Xena's sword and armor fell on top of her and she grunted, throwing the armor aside. Gabrielle woke up as well rubbing her eyes. Xena sniffed the air and her eyes widened. Getting up off the floor she wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and hastily made her way out the tent to see her men frantically trying to get the weapons out of their flaming tents.

Her head darted from side to side and saw at least ten tents were on fire and her men were also screaming in agony as their flesh burned. She growled and Allat came running towards her only wearing just pants and boots.

"What is going on?!" he yelled and Xena spun around frowning deeply and her eyes wild.

"Put out the fires and get ready to attack," she turned on her heel, the cloak swaying in the wind as she retreated back to her tent. Gabrielle began putting on her boots when she saw Xena angrily enter the tent. She quickly grabbed the nearest object in her path and threw it on the ground. Solan blinked at his mother's sudden rage and moaned as he sat up facing her.

"Xena? What's going on out there?" Gabrielle asked and buckled her armor together as quickly as possible. Xena paced back and forth with her arms folded. "It's happening again!" her nostrils flared. Gabrielle was beginning to think Xena was not in her right mind, though she could be wrong. "They ambushed me just like Julius Caesar did," she tapped her cheek as she continued to pace.

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow and then ran to the exit of the tent, pushing the flap aside. She saw many of the men putting out fires with the drinking water they had. She put a hand to her mouth. "By the gods..." she muttered. Turning to face Xena she frowned. "So what are we going to do now?"

Xena eyed Gabrielle and clicked her tongue against her cheek. "I'm going to crucify them all!"

Solan leaned against the tent wall and shook his head. "Mother no...that is the worst thing to do to someone."

"Be quiet!" Xena yelled at him and he jumped at her loud firm voice. Gabrielle looked to Solan and saw fear in his eyes and then back to Xena, who possessed wrath and malice in her eyes.

" _Xena_..." Gabrielle tread carefully, truthfully a little shocked at her behavior as Solan was as well. She stepped closer and saw the same eyes she met a year ago –eyes full of hate and anger. "We should think about a strategy...together..." she took another step closer and Xena snarled at her.

The empress put on a new pair of black wide leg pants and knee high boots. Gabrielle looked at her fearing her reaction if she took another step closer towards her. Xena buckled her shoulder bracers on and sheathed her sword, snatching her plumed helmet as she exited the tent.

"Gabrielle, don't let her do that..." Solan said. Gabrielle frowned, furrowing her eyebrows and grabbed her sword.

"Don't worry Solan, that's not going to happen," she turned to face him. "Don't leave this tent for your own safety," she exited and went after Xena though she saw she had already mounted Argo and went for the hill. Groaning she ran to her own horse and rode behind her.

Allat had managed to gather up the men in an orderly fashion and march towards the field once again. He looked up at the hill and saw Xena sitting on her blonde horse and Gabrielle riding up to meet with her. He frowned as he saw this wasn't going to be anything like yesterday at all.

Gabrielle huffed as she finally caught up to Xena and pulled the reins on her horse halting her. "What exactly are planning to do huh?" she frowned and Xena kept looking out at the not so empty poppy field again. "Xena! Look at me!" she yelled and Xena turned her barely visible face hidden behind her helm, staring into her friend's green eyes. "You're acting too irrational about this. We're supposed to work together! You can't let Octavius win. He's just trying to get under your skin, you should know this." She looked into Xena's blue eyes and they were very pale, not the vibrant blue she normally saw.

"I don't like the way you're looking at me," Gabrielle said shaking her head slowly.

"Then don't look, Gabrielle," Xena said and faced forward looking at her army spreading across the field. She saw the Roman army coming from the opposite way, coming to meet in the middle. Gabrielle shook her head and pulled her horse to go down to meet with Allat in the front line.

Moments later she came to a halt and stood alongside the Assyrian King. They looked at the sea of red coming towards them slowly. Gabrielle put up her hand and the army stopped marching. Allat looked at her confusedly.

Xena narrowed her eyes from the hill top as she saw Gabrielle had halted the army from marching. _What is she doing_?

"What are you about to do?" Allat said and Gabrielle smiled, turning her head she looked up at Xena in her dark armor wearing her large fan shaped plume helmet. She then put her helmet on and exhaled heavily.

"something that relies only on faith," Gabrielle said and trotted to the middle of the poppy field. Allat almost followed but she stopped him and he got off his horse, watching her carefully. The Roman army stopped marching and watched as Gabrielle slowly made her way to meet in the middle of the two seas –one red and one black. She felt her heart racing as she neared the Roman army.

* * *

Octavius sat beneath his canopy and grinned, watching the small blonde ride into the middle of the field so bravely. "I'm surprised Xena sent that girl to the battlefield. Perhaps she is too afraid to show her face after a failed assassination?" he scoffed.

Gabrielle finally reached the middle of the field and stared at Octavius as he comfortably sat under his canopy. She then looked behind her and saw Xena sitting on Argo, clad in black, staring her down. She could feel her eyes burning into her back even if she were miles away. _You can do this, Gabrielle_. She dismounted the stallion and the Romans eyed her cautiously. She took off her helmet and tossed it on the ground. Reaching for her weapon the Roman soldiers pulled up their shields awaiting for an attack.

Though she did not attack, she threw the sword on the ground as well as the daggers hidden inside of her boots. Exhaling lowly she then took off her breast plate, unbuckling it as quick as possible, and tossed that aside too.

Octavius leaned on the edge of his seat, narrowing his eyes, rubbing his chin as he watched this blonde young woman completely disarm herself in front of thousands of soldiers.

From the opposite field Xena watched Gabrielle take off her armor piece by piece. The silence in the air was not helping, she could almost feel Gabrielle's nerves course through her body. Zenobia joined her and frowned at Gabrielle.

"What on earth is she doing?" Zenobia said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"I don't know..." Xena muttered. She was tempted to move in but feared that the Romans would attack her if Octavius saw her move from her spot. She stayed put, inside hoping that Gabrielle knew what she was doing or she was setting herself up for death.

Gabrielle was now in a simple beige skirt and crop top, barefoot and unarmed. She stared at Octavius and he was smiling at her, even she could see that from far away. She felt very exposed in front of these hundreds of men but she tried to put herself in her own world, ignoring all the eyes on her.

"Well I'm unarmed!" she yelled out and Octavius rubbed his chin grinning deviously at the blonde warrior wannabe. "So will you kill me now?!" her voice called out and the emperor stood from his seat, folding his arms at her. He walked to the edge of the hilltop and stared at Xena, as she was doing nothing, his grin widened.

"Is Xena surrendering?!" Octavius yelled out at Gabrielle as the silence in the field heightened.

Gabrielle sighed and looked back at Xena, she could feel her anger rising even from far away. "She's giving you one last chance to stop this!" Gabrielle smirked.

"she wants another plea deal," Octavius chuckled as he stared over at Tiberius. He turned his attention over to Gabrielle. "No deal, Gabrielle!" he yelled out.

Gabrielle grunted, she tested the Roman emperor further, "Fine! I gave you one last chance! Prepare to face the consequences!" she slowly backed away from the middle of the field, leaving her weapons and armor on the ground. She mounted her horse, staring at Octavius.

He smiled at her. "Kill her," he announced and Tiberius waved his hand. The general on the field nodded as soon as he saw the signal and the Roman army began charging at her. Gabrielle's eyes widened and she turned around galloping back to the other side of the battlefield.

Allat saw the Roman army charging at them and he gasped. "Gods above..." he frowned and whistled at Xena's men. "Go, go, go!" he said and they immediately obeyed, marching forward. Gabrielle looked behind her and tried to make her horse gallop faster. She grit her teeth and turned her head to see a spear coming straight for her back, she ducked and the spear flew over her head, landing in one of Xena's men's chest.

Allat galloped beside her as they tried to get away from the field's congestion. "Are you insane?" he screamed and Gabrielle smiled.

"No, that's Xena's department!" she and Allat rode to the back of the line where the archers were, shooting flaming arrows.

* * *

Zenobia eyed Gabrielle and shook her head, looking over at Xena. "I am not sure if that was pure bravery or stupidity."

Xena snarled and pulled Argo, riding down to the back line where Gabrielle and Allat were. Gabrielle jumped off her horse and rummaged through the wagon of explosions. She bit the top of a canister and used the torch to light the wick. She threw the bomb in the field covering her ears and it exploded in the middle of at least ten Roman soldiers. Allat smiled and high fived Gabrielle.

Xena arrived and jumped off Argo, pushing her to the side. She grabbed Gabrielle's shoulder, turning her towards her. "Gabrielle, don't ever do that again!"

The blonde grinned and threw another bomb, hunching down she covered her ears and Xena flinched at the loud explosion. "I was just trying to get a rise out of Octavius. I think it worked!" she exclaimed triumphantly and threw another bomb. Xena groaned and pulled her aside.

"You could've died!" Xena's voice grew louder as she felt anger rising inside of her. Gabrielle folded her arms and then she saw Xena's sword sheathed at her hip. Grinning mischievously she grabbed Xena's sword and ran towards a few Roman soldiers coming their way. She sliced threw two easily and kicked one to the ground, ramming the blade in his chest, while elbowing another in the face. Xena raised an eyebrow as she watched Gabrielle's sudden thirst for blood completely engulf her.

Gabrielle didn't stop though and still in her undergarments she went for another Roman, wrapping the sword around his neck she sliced his throat, his body falling to the ground. Xena's eyes widened and realized that she was not out for revenge, she was angry, and wasn't keen on stopping anytime soon.

"Gabrielle!" Xena called out and the blonde didn't stop. She knocked down a Roman and stabbed him in the chest repeatedly, even though one blow would've killed him. "Gabrielle no! stop!" she called out but Gabrielle didn't hear her at all. Covered in blood now she then looked at the blade. It was smothered in the Roman soldier's blood and she saw her reflection in the blade, half her face covered in the man's blood.

Her eyes turned to see a very distressed Xena staring back at her. Everything that Gabrielle told Xena about the war she became the opposite of her own wishes. She never wanted to have a war with Caesar and certainly doubted Xena and her plans from the very beginning. Xena told her that this war was for peace in the end, and Gabrielle wanted no part in bloodshed, even though she knew war always had blood, fear and death. The longer she stared at the bloodied blade the more she began to hate herself for what she did. Staring down at the mutilated Roman she stood up and looked back at Xena once more.

_"War is a terrible thing and I hope you do not become accustomed to it."_ Xena's words echoed in her mind, her eyes staring into Xena's cautiously watching her. Xena then stepped closer to Gabrielle as they were a bit out of range from the fight. She took her own blade from Gabrielle's grasp slowly and touched her cheek softly, smearing the blood with her fingers.

"Gabrielle...you...you lost it," Xena said with a surprised tone. Gabrielle looked away from Xena's piercing blue eyes.

"I –I just want to win," Gabrielle said and stared back at the Roman emperor, happily sitting on his throne watching the battle.

Xena saw Octavius as well and pursed her lips. "Everything you fought for, peace and the fight for good..." she eyed her carefully. "Don't lose sight of that because of him. And don't act out because of me. I remembered the first time I was ambushed by the Romans and I let that anger course through me like I did years ago. I don't want that to happen to you, do you understand that?" she said seriously with creased eyebrows. Gabrielle nodded. "Good," she sighed and looked at the battlefield. Her men were winning as far as she could see. "And don't ever pull a stunt like that again," she raised an eyebrow and Gabrielle smirked.

"you gotta admit it was good though," Gabrielle smiled knowingly and Xena rolled her eyes wiping the blood off her blade, sheathing it at her hip again.

* * *

Xena and Gabrielle came back to her tent and Solan looked up from the scroll he was reading. He had gotten bored as he stayed in the tent by himself, hearing the battle going on outside. He looked to his mother and actually feared her. She caught a glimpse of his fearful eyes and shied from him.

"Solan, I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier. I wasn't angry at you." She smiled and kissed his forehead. Solan wiped his forehead, feeling embarrassed that she was treating him like a small child.

"It's alright, mother. What happened anyway? What's going on out there?" he asked and suddenly a loud explosion interrupted their conversation. His eyes widened and Xena smiled.

"A whole lot of that!" Gabrielle grinned. Solan looked at her and saw she was basically in her underwear and frowned.

"Gabrielle, what happened to your clothes?" he mumbled. Gabrielle looked down and then grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around herself. Her cheeks began to flush and she laughed nervously. "Oh...well, a minor setback," she nodded trying to convince herself. He raised an eyebrow at her and Xena cleared off the desk and brought out a map of the battlefield. She sat down and felt a tinge of pain in her side, she wrinkled her nose and shifted in the chair subtly.

While Xena sat at her desk Gabrielle went behind a changing screen and put on her maroon skirt and bodice to feel a bit more suitable in front of Solan and others. She came around and tied her bodice up, sitting across from Xena on a stool.

Staring at Xena she saw the discomfort plainly on her face and her hand went to her side. "Are you alright?" Gabrielle asked as she finished tying her bodice up. Xena waved her hand and kept looking at the map, marking it with an inked quill. "You don't look alright," she pecked on.

Solan leaned up and set the scroll on his lap, staring at his mother. "You should take better care of yourself, mother," he said and Xena hid a shy smile. "If I could help you I would!"

"That's very sweet of you Solan, but I'll be fine," her grin widened and kept marking the map. Another explosion hit the ground and Xena grabbed the glass filled with water before it spilled everywhere. She shook her head and then set the quill down. "Alright Gabrielle, I will need you to tell Allat what to do."

Gabrielle listened intently, folding her hands on the table. "The archers are doing no good staying in the back row. I want you and Allat to split them into four groups. Two to the far west side of the field and the other two on the right. We will get more range that way. That goes for the catapults too. Octavius' men know where our archers and catapults are. If we move them then they will have to split up and fight divided."

"Divide and conquer," Gabrielle grinned. Xena nodded, grinning in return. "Yes, exactly," the empress said. "That's very Roman of you, Xena!" she stood up and grabbed the Sais from her saddlebag next to the sleeping mats. "I'll go tell Allat the plans." She said and tucked the Sais in her boots, she saw the discomfort on her friend's face and touched her hand. "You should stay here. Don't go out there again or I'll have to punch you," she smiled and Xena smirked.

Xena leaned back in her chair and rubbed her side. Solan's eyes peered over the top of the scroll and saw his mother in pure discomfort and he could do nothing to help her. "she is giving you a hard time, isn't she?" he said and Xena eyed him painfully.

"What?" she said confused at his question then it donned on her. " _Oh_...it's not her fault," she grinned weakly.

"Sure it is!" Solan playfully said and Xena smiled at him, resting her hand on her hip. "She's probably upset that she is missing out on all the action."

Xena shook her head at her son. He has jokes, she thought to herself. She leaned forward and drank some water. "She doesn't need any more action, trust me." She cleared her throat and looked at the map once more.

"She's a little brat," Solan smirked and Xena eyed him confusedly and started chuckling quietly to herself. "Very funny, Solan. Drink that tea," she continued looking at the map and he frowned.

"It tastes disgusting," he lamented and Xena smirked at him. "Who's the brat _now_?" she teased.

* * *

Gabrielle instructed Allat and the archers to split up in pairs on opposite sides of the field. She hunched down next to Allat and began biting off the tops of the bombs. He eyed her carefully and kept handing her the bombs. "Is this going to work?" he asked.

"I guess we're about to find out," she grinned and lit the wicks of the bombs, throwing them into the field. She yelled in victory and Allat smiled at her.

"I think you're enjoying that too much, Gabrielle," he said as he handed her another bomb to ignite. He finished handing her the bombs and as she threw another one he winced at the loud explosion. "Yes definitely too much," he pat her shoulder harshly. "Alright I'm going to the other side with the archers. Signal me when you're ready!"

"No problem!" she grinned, throwing another bomb at the Romans. "I could do this all day." One of the archers turned and looked at her with a smug smile, nodding his head at her enthusiasm.

A few moments later she saw Allat waving his hand at her. She thumbs-upped him and he told the men to start loading the catapults. She did the same and hunkered down in front closing her ears. A hoard of Roman soldiers came their way and she waited for the projectile to come closer to them. She grinned as she saw they started running away. "Yeah, you better run away!" she yelled out. The soldiers smiled at her and she stood up placing her hands on her hips watching those Roman soldiers getting blown to pieces. "Do it again," she nodded her head, quite enjoying herself, blowing up these men into smithereens.

* * *

Octavius walked to the hilltop and saw Xena had split her army into four sections on the east and west sides of the field. He saw a catapult blow his men up and he groaned. Tiberius ran up to the hill breathlessly. "Sir, we're losing a lot of men. Xena has too many archers..." he coughed and Octavius sneered.

"I won't be beaten by a Thracian!" he yelled out child-like and kicked the dirt with his sandal. "We need a different strategy. These bombs are not working. She has bombs, catapults, archers and men on the field."

Tiberius sighed heavily. "I don't want to wait and find out if she has any more surprises, sir."

"Knowing Xena, she probably does. She tried to assassinate me yesterday," he peered over at the opposite hilltop, noticing Xena had disappeared. "Though, she seems to be hiding from us, Tiberius," he grinned.

"Probably bringing out more of her surprises I'm sure. Zenobia is working with her," he said and Octavius noticed the brunette Assyrian Queen commanding some of the back row of archers in the center of the field. His eyes scanned all sides of the field. Xena had archers in the middle, to the left and right of his men. He couldn't seem to understand why his general hadn't caught onto this and tried to devise a different strategy to combat Xena's new plans. He huffed, "explains why there are so many archers. That Assyrian witch has been a nuisance ever since her husband died." He rubbed his chin pensively. "why would Xena work with someone like her? Xena never lets others command her army," he grinned.

"Something is not right here," he concluded. "Tell the general to stop fighting side by side and form the army in a circle leaving the middle open." Tiberius nodded and ran down to meet with the general in the back row. "That archer assassin may have fulfilled his duty after all."

* * *

Xena kept hearing explosions on the field and she wasn't sure if that was coming from her side or the Roman's side, but she was getting a headache just listening to it. Honestly, she wanted to go outside and survey the area herself but her body would not allow her to. Feeling excruciatingly hot she took off her cloak and her shoulder bracers, tossing them aside. She leaned back in her chair and wiped her sweaty forehead. She looked at the map and saw her vision was beginning to blur. Shaking her head she widened her eyes trying to desperately focus on the blurred map in front of her.

Solan noticed his mother's odd behavior and leaned forward. He swung his hurt leg to the side of the bed, groaning in pain he stood up slowly. He looked for something to hold him up and reached for his father's sword, using it as a cane, a very poor one at that. Hissing he hopped over a few feet and huffed. "Mother?" he waved his hand in front of her and she looked up at him slowly. "Are you alright?" he saw her eyes trying to focus on him and he frowned. "Are you sick?"

Xena lifted her pant leg and saw her wound from yesterday had reopened. Frowning she took off the gauze, her fingers poked at the wound, she winced softly. She sniffed her blood stained fingers and groaned. "Slimy bastard," she mumbled.

Solan eyed her carefully, "what?"

Xena looked at him and her mind began scattering in million different directions. _I'm not going to fail this time._ "Solan," she looked at his condition and scratched her head restlessly. "I need you to do something for me, if you can."

"Anything," he had completely forgotten about his broken limbs. She pointed to a small bag by the entrance of the tent.

"There's a pouch of medicinal herbs," she coughed and Solan nodded, looking at that far walk to the bag. It wasn't really that far but in his condition it was. He hobbled over to the bag and Xena eyed him with caution. "Be careful." She advised.

Solan grit his teeth and grabbed the small pouch of herbs. "Mother please, I got this," he hissed in pain as he moved his broken leg in the smallest motion. He turned around and threw it at her and she caught it with ease. Hobbling back over to the desk he leaned on the handle of the blade. Xena poured the herbs in a bowl and grabbed some water, pouring it into the bowl of herbs. She looked around for something to stir the mixture together and saw the quill. _Gabrielle would kill me if she saw this_. Sighing she used the end of the quill stirring the two substances together to create a paste.

As soon as she was finished she dipped her fingers in the paste and lifted her pant leg, bending down she rubbed the open wound with the herb mixture. Solan peered over the desk a bit curious to see what she was doing. Xena lifted herself up and sighed heavily.

"Now what?" he asked awaiting a new task. She eyed him and noticed he was trying his best to stay standing even in his hurt condition. "We wait. Solan go lay down."

He shook his head defiantly. "No I am going to wait and see if you're alright."

Xena smiled at him and rolled her pant leg up to her thigh. She stood up slowly and took the sword out from under him and he leaned into her. Together she lead him back to the cot and gently placed him back down. He did his best trying to hid his pain but it was obvious to her that he was in a lot of pain. "Why did you do that to your leg?"

She sighed and sat down next to him, "that arrow must have been laced with poison. I should have noticed it earlier, but I was too distracted," she cursed to herself and Solan's eyes grew with worry. She reassured him, "don't worry it only grazed my skin."

Solan eyed her disbelievingly. "That was a gash not a scratch!" he reprimanded his own mother. She frowned at him. "I will be fine, just rest here." She stood up and began walking slowly away from him, rubbing her drenched bangs. He leaned forward and crinkled his nose. "Where are you going?"

"To lay down and wait for Gabrielle. She will come back soon," she set herself down and rolled over on her side on top of the blankets. "I'm...sure of it," she sighed, closing her eyes.

* * *

Gabrielle yelled in victory as the archers had hit at least thirty Romans coming in their direction. She looked over to Allat's group and he waved at her. She smiled and nodded her head as they seemed to be having the same luck as her group.

She noticed the Romans began retreating to the middle of the field and armed themselves with their shields, forming a semi circle. She folded her arms and cocked her head to the side. "He just doesn't quit does he?" she smirked. She knelt down to one of the archers, whispering in his ear. "Octavius told his general to form a circle in the middle of the field so it would make it harder for us to aim at them." He nodded. "Very good thinking," she concluded. "Since they are not scattered we will be wasting our ammunition on them. We should form a larger circle surrounding them," she smiled and stood up waving her hands at Allat.

She grabbed the archer, "come on, Allat will follow my lead." She pushed them forward and they spread out creating a larger circle around the Romans. Allat noticed this and copied her immediately. Gabrielle grinned deviously as Octavius had caught onto what she was doing. "Great! I'm going to tell Xena," she said and ran to Zenobia who stood on the hilltop surveying the battlefield.

Zenobia saw Gabrielle running towards her and smiled. "You're a very good commander, Gabrielle. I'm sure Xena would be proud of you."

Gabrielle huffed, catching her breath and placed her hands on her hips overlooking the Grecian army surrounding the Romans. "Octavius is losing men quickly. He only has 1/4 of the men compared to our numbers. He is losing and he knows it!" she nodded, quite proud of herself. "I got to relay the message to Xena!"

* * *

Upon entering the tent minutes later she saw Xena was on the floor, asleep? She eyed Solan and he drank the horrible tea he despised so much. "Is she asleep?"

Solan swallowed the tea unwillingly and breathed out heavily. "I don't know. She said that the arrow that hit her had poison in it...she said she was going to rest." He said and Gabrielle felt her heart stop for a small moment.

Gabrielle hastily made her way to Xena and sat beside her. She looked to her calf and saw she had already treated it with some herbs. That made her feel a little better. She touched Xena's warm cheek and shook her body slightly. "Xena..." she shook her a bit harder this time. "Xena, can you hear me?" she leaned in closer and heard her breathing softly. Good, she thought. She brushed her bangs away from her drenched forehead. "Xena come on, you can't go to sleep. You need to be awake and alert!" she called out and Xena opened her eyes, stirring awake. Gabrielle smiled at her warmly.

"Gabrielle," Xena smiled as she saw her blonde friend staring back at her. She was happy to see her. She knew that she'd come back.

"Hey," Gabrielle pulled Xena's hair back from her face. "We're in the lead!" she exclaimed and Xena gradually nodded her head, feeling her body reacting slowly to Gabrielle's words. Gabrielle frowned at the empress's state and sighed deeply. She rested her hand on Eve and felt flutters against her palm. She smiled and Xena shifted her body, curling her legs closer to her. "I'm going to stay here with you."

This caught Xena's attention and she crinkled her brows, "No Gabrielle. You need to be out there with them –"

"I'm not going to leave you. They can go on without me," Gabrielle grinned and Xena wasn't in any state to argue so she just sighed as a response. Xena felt for Gabrielle's hand and intertwined her fingers with hers.

Xena breathed out loudly, "you're really stubborn."

Gabrielle stifled a laugh, "I learn from the best!" she teased.

* * *

An hour later Gabrielle laid beside Xena, leaning on her elbow, still holding onto Xena's hand as she lay there resting peacefully. As she stared at her face, she thought she had never seen Xena so at peace before since they time they knew each other.

Zenobia entered Xena's tent and saw Xena lying on the floor with Gabrielle next to her. She felt like she was interrupting something though Gabrielle straightened up. "Octavius has called off his army."

Gabrielle grinned widely, "did you hear that Xena? We won!" she exclaimed and Xena's lips turned into a soft smile. She was not truly in a deep sleep and aware enough to hear what was going on.

"There is a problem though," Zenobia said and Gabrielle frowned at this. She didn't want to hear about anymore problems. "He wants to meet with Xena face to face to sign a treaty."

Gabrielle peered down at Xena and shook her head. "She's in no condition to do that. I can go in her place," she demanded.

Zenobia smiled knowingly, "he knew you were going to suggest that. He says he wants to see Xena, not you and not me."

Gabrielle suddenly didn't know what to do. She knew that Xena was not nearly quite in her right mind or body to appear in front of Octavius. She wasn't even sure she was able to hear everything that was going on right now. She huffed, rubbing her temples. "Can she meet him later tonight?"

Zenobia nodded, "I will tell the scout then..." she eyed the two of them carefully and exited the tent.

Gabrielle focused her attention back to Xena and brushed her knuckles against Xena's cheek. "Xena...can you hear me?" she saw her eyebrows rise into her bangs with her eyes still closed and her fingers twitched as a response. Gabrielle nodded, "I need you to meet Octavius later tonight, alright?" Xena nodded but she wasn't really sure she understood everything she said. The blonde groaned then kissed Xena's forehead, standing up and began to pace.

Solan looked to Gabrielle and shook his head. "She can't go meet him like that. Do you think she will be awake by then?"

She eyed him and bit her bottom lip. "I hope so, Solan. I _hope_ so," her eyes traveled to Xena, watching her as she lay there pretty much useless as of now.


	45. Chapter 45

**AN: this is the end of the loose ends of the battle! Enjoy and thanks for reading guys ;)**

_Chapter 43 -Field of Poppies Part III_

Hours had slipped by and Solan had fallen asleep awhile ago. Gabrielle heard his subtle snoring on the opposite side of the tent. She sat up, writing in one of her scrolls, recording everything that happened today and yesterday during the battle. Xena was still laying down beside her in a comatose state. Gabrielle's eyes traveled down looking at Xena and tapped the end of the quill on her chin. She couldn't really do anything to help her and she would have to meet Octavius and very soon. The sun was already setting and she had seen no sign of Xena's condition improving, but at least her fever had broken and was no longer sweating in her sleep. Allat had suggested that all of the men gather the fallen soldiers, moving them from the battlefield. Octavius pulled back his men while Gabrielle stayed with Xena. He knew that all of his men would be lost to him if he continued fighting against Xena's army.

Inside Gabrielle felt quite proud of herself for leading the army in Xena's name. She had proven herself very worthy of commanding an army and would gladly do it again. Though, she had to admit she'd never felt more vulnerable in her entire short life. She was considerably younger than Xena, but felt that their age difference didn't really matter. It obviously didn't if Xena allowed her to be the commander of her army, which she knew inside of Xena, that was probably killing her inside. She looked down at her empress friend and stroked her cheek softly, hoping that she'd be well enough to meet Octavius and without any complications of course.

She picked at her plate of bread and a small apple, helping herself to some much needed wine. She wished that Xena was able to share this with her but continued to sit in silence. The camp was very quiet and heard a lot of small chatter from outside the tent. Most likely the men were celebrating their victories –well deserved victories. As she continued to write down more of the events she had forgotten how much she liked to write. Aside from fighting, writing was definitely her true passion. Smiling she wrote down the events of Xena from yesterday, including her own victory of overcoming her desire to kill the Roman emperor. Gabrielle knew that Xena's will to fight, her path with the sword, would never leave her even if she was about to become a mother _again_.

Xena awoke abruptly and started coughing violently, startling Gabrielle. She set her scroll aside and scooted closer to Xena, grabbing some water she handed it to her. Xena pushed the glass away and sat up covering her mouth as she continued to hack up her insides. Gabrielle kneeled in front of Xena unsure what to do at the moment. Xena pointed to the water basin and Gabrielle got up immediately and grabbed the bowl uncertain why Xena wanted it.

She handed Xena the bowl and she grabbed it, immediately halting her hacking and threw up in the empty basin. Gabrielle cringed and she smiled sadly at her friend seeing her like this. She would have never thought she'd be the one taking care of her at a time like this. She reached over and wiped Xena's mouth for her. Xena sneered and wiped her own mouth with the backside of her hand, feeling a bit embarrassed at herself. Breathing out slowly she adjusted herself in an upright position and scratched her head, looking around she saw Solan was asleep and Gabrielle staring at her with those big green eyes.

"Oh Gabrielle," she shied away and half smiled, "stop looking at me like that." Taking the glass of water she downed it and licked her dry lips.

Gabrielle pushed the basin away and sat beside Xena once more. "You've been passed out for hours! I was beginning to worry about you. How do you feel now? Your fever is gone so I guess you seem a bit better, right? Do you need anything? I can get you –"

Xena held her hand up and sighed warily. "Gabrielle...stop, please..." she pleaded in a hoarse voice and Gabrielle nodded, remaining quiet. She rubbed her face with her hands and widened her eyes, adjusting to light once more. She peered over to her left and saw Gabrielle with a wide grin and she arched her eyebrow. "What?"

She shook her head, "nothing I'm just glad to see you're alive."

Xena scoffed, "don't be ridiculous," she sighed and fixed her black dress casually. Still she felt sore all over likely from the poison and her body was weak, but her mind was not foggy anymore nor was her vision.

"If you were going to die, I'm sure you'd tell me," Gabrielle teased and Xena smirked, pouring some more water for herself.

"Oh I'll make sure you're the first person to know," she playfully said, downing the water hastily. Her eyes surveyed the tent and she heard complete peace outside the tent. No fighting, no talking, nothing. "Did you stay here with me?" she asked curiously.

Gabrielle nodded and squeezed Xena's hand tightly. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you. You don't remember?" Xena creased her eyebrows and shook her head indicating she didn't remember anything of that conversation. "Remember when you asked me at the palace if I'd stay with you...to help you?" the empress nodded. "I meant what I said, Xena. I'm here for you," she smiled warmly and Xena shared a smile with her.

"You are a kind soul, Gabrielle," she shyly admitted. "Don't expect any thank you's anytime soon, though!" she pointed her finger at her blonde companion.

Gabrielle chuckled, "no, not from you!" she teased. A moment of silence passed by and she really needed to tell Xena what she must do in the next hour or so and that was to finally see Octavius for a treaty agreement. "Xena.." she pressed. Blinking, she averted her gaze. "You need to meet with Octavius tonight. He wants to sign a treaty with you."

Xena nodded her head slowly, vaguely remembering that when she was half asleep a few hours ago. Gabrielle eyed her cautiously. "Are you up for the trip over there? I'll go with you. You know, just to see if you're alright," she meekly grinned.

"you just won't give up, will you?" Xena smirked and tried to get up on her own, proving to be more difficult than she expected. Gabrielle stood up and stretched out her arms to aid her. Xena rolled her eyes and grabbed onto Gabrielle's arms and she pulled her up slowly. "Thanks," she muttered and went to see herself in the mirror. Her pale face had startled her at first and she began brushing her hair, getting the knots out. "So Octavius is finally agreeing to a treaty?" she chuckled to herself, continuing to brush her long locks. "About time."

Gabrielle began gathering Xena's belongings for her and a couple of extra things to drape over Argo's saddle. She peered at Xena as she continued to fight with her hair, as if it had a mind of its own. "you should probably eat something before we go," she suggested.

Xena groaned and ran her fingers through her hair, throwing it behind her shoulder, turning to face Gabrielle. "I don't really have much of an appetite right now, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle sighed heavily and Xena looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Would you just eat something, for me, at least? So I can feel better," she frowned.

Xena smiled and relented. "Fine, just for you, I will." She sauntered over to her desk and ate a chunk of bread and some fruit, turning towards her blonde friend she smiled, shrugging her shoulder nonchalantly. Gabrielle rolled her eyes, smiling at Xena's sudden playful mood. "thank you," she said and grabbed Xena's sword.

* * *

A while later Xena and Gabrielle approached Octavius' camp and halted their horses. Xena wrapped her body in her large black cloak, the fur trimmed hood draped over her head, she turned to Gabrielle. "I'm going to have to go in there alone. Stay out here," she dismounted Argo and gave the reins to Gabrielle.

"If you need me you know where to find me," Gabrielle whispered, careful not to make herself noticeable to the emperor. Just as Xena was about to enter the tent she called out, "are you sure you feel alright?" her concern quite present.

Xena smiled at her softly, "I'm fine Gabrielle," she turned and went to the tent. Though she had lied, she felt still very weak from the poison and her body was very tired. Her mind was clear and that was all that mattered. She figured that she'd feel a lot better once they returned to Athens and she was able to rest properly.

Entering the tent she saw Octavius sitting at his desk, twirling a quill in his hand. He smiled deviously at her and she pulled back her hood, staring into the young emperor's blue eyes. "Octavius," she greeted.

He stood and came a few feet away from her, scanning her from head to toe, realizing that she was absolutely fine and in good health, though her cheeks pale and her eyes tired. "Xena, you look in good health," he grinned.

Xena smirked, "considering you had an assassin shoot with me a poisoned arrow, I'd say so," she lifted her chin and he chuckled a bit, waltzing over behind his desk once more. He gestured for her to sit and she graciously took the chair, sitting down slowly as he continued to stare at her sickly condition.

"How'd you like that little treat I gave you? Very unexpected wasn't it?" he sneered.

"For someone like you, I imagine that you would have done it yourself. You sent someone else to do your dirty work instead," she batted her dark lashes and he frowned.

"Well, you did _try_ to assassinate me. Though you missed...so _unlike_ you," he smiled, tracing his finger on his desk casually passing the awkward silence.

Her smile arose and her eyes narrowed, "the gods have spared you," she leaned back in the chair, challenging his glare. "I'm not here to fight, Octavius. A scout was sent to me so we could discuss a treaty, isn't that right?"

He sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. "Yes I did, didn't I?" he placed his hands in his lap and Xena raised an eyebrow at him in silence. "You know, I'm a man of my word, Xena. I hope you are too."

"Within reason," she curtly replied.

"I figured you'd say something like that," he leaned forward and snapped his fingers. A man came forward with a scroll and he slammed it on the table, alarming Xena slightly. He smiled, "go ahead, open it. Read it." Xena slowly reached forward and snatched the scroll, tossing the ribbon aside. He watched her carefully and chuckled. "Unless you need your scribe to read it for you, since it's in Latin," he teased. Xena frowned and opened the scroll, reading over it carefully and slowly, trying to decipher what had been said here. Gabrielle had been able to give her some lessons in Latin in their time together and it proved quite useful, especially in times like this.

After a few minutes of silent reading Xena set the scroll in her lap. "What is this?" she exclaimed. "You still want control of North Africa."

"I let you have Egypt, Xena. Isn't that what you wanted?" he smiled, crossing one leg over the other.

Xena felt her blood boiling and was about to lash out, but remembered what Gabrielle. Slowly she calmed herself and Octavius saw she was about to blow up, his smile was encouraging it. she closed her eyes and relaxed herself. Opening her eyes she smiled at him. "This isn't a treaty of peace. You're invoking another potential war in the future. I won't agree to this," she placed the scroll on his desk.

Octavius frowned and stood up grabbing his dagger and stormed close to her. He pointed the tip of the blade close to her face and Xena smirked. "Don't get what you want, and you kill me? Poor sport," she pushed away the dagger from her face. "I have an idea," she held up her finger playfully. "why don't you go back to Rome and I take all the territories that were promised to me and I'll leave your precious Rome alone, deal?"

"Xena!" he growled, his anger rising as she so calmly sat complacently in her chair. "I want those territories!"

"I won Octavius! Not you and you're just going to have to deal with that," she snarled. She stood up to leave and he blocked the exit. Carefully she tapped her chakram that rested on her hip, she smiled at him. "Get out of my way, this conversation is over."

He wasn't moving and Xena rolled her eyes and smiled through gritted teeth. "I am warning you, Octavius." She stared into his light eyes, narrowing her own. "Go...home..." she said lowly. A few more awkward silence seconds of staring into her eyes he smiled weakly and stepped aside allowing her to pass. She exited the tent and he watched her flip the hood over her head.

"So what is the agreement then since you get to have whatever you want!" he called out.

Xena turned, wrapping the cloak concealing herself. She grinned, "go back to Rome Octavius. I promise you'll never hear from me again, unless you do something you might regret later." She turned and walked away back to Argo. She saw Gabrielle standing beside her horse in a far distance. "I will send you a _proper_ treaty when I return to Athens," she yelled over her shoulder and grabbed Argo's reins, mounting her swiftly.

"If you live that long that is!" Octavius called out, feeling a bit defeated. He saw Xena's smile even in the darkness, a creepy smile that is. He never liked when she looked like that, bad things happened to him.

"In twenty years I will still be here, Octavius. You can count on that," she winked and pulled on the reins to go back to her camp. The Roman emperor watched as she trotted away and with her little blonde friend as well. He growled and threw the dagger down, ultimately defeated. He was so sure he could take her down, but now with this proposition, he knew that Xena was always going to be a pebble in his shoe. Ever to remind him that she was an annoying little pest, flying around his ear.

Tiberius appeared beside his emperor and folded his arms. "Did she agree?"

Octavius punched his general in the chest out of frustration and rage. "We're leaving for Rome in the morning. Tell the men. There is no deal," he shook his head, heading back to his tent.

* * *

Once Gabrielle and Xena returned to their tent, Solan was still asleep soundly and Xena took off her cloak, wiping her brow. Talking to Octavius had really taken a lot out of her, more than she depicted. Gabrielle smiled entering the tent. "You did great, I heard everything!" she exclaimed and saw Xena's cheeks pale. Becoming concerned she rest her hand on Xena's shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?"

Xena nodded and sat down at her desk, drinking some more water. Gabrielle folded her arms, "you told me you were fine!" a bit upset that her friend had lied to her, though it wouldn't be the first time.

"Not now, Gabrielle," she begged. Gabrielle relented, sensing that her friend was in no mood for a lecture especially since she had to deal with the brat of an emperor. She came closer to the desk and stood behind her, resting her palms on Xena's shoulders.

"So, where do we go from here?" she asked.

"Home."

* * *

It had taken awhile but almost a week later they had arrived back in Athens. Throughout the long journey they had to make a lot of stops. By now Xena had felt the poison completely eradicated from her system, though Solan was a bit of a hassle to get home as he couldn't ride a horse. He was carried the rest of the way.

Now comfortably back in the palace, Solan was confined to his room downstairs most of the time. Though, he still wanted to participate with the children and their classes. Many of the students came to see him and frankly wouldn't leave him alone. Gabrielle had to constantly shoo them out of his room so he could rest, but truthfully he didn't mind the attention. It was the most undivided attention he had gotten since he arrived in Athens months ago.

Xena spent most of her time in her office writing a lengthy treaty that surely would please Octavius and his precious Roman empire. Zenobia and Allat were allowed to stay as long as possible until they decided to return to their homeland, Assyria. Allat being almost like an older brother to Solan, spent some of his time playing chess with Solan to keep him company. Zenobia did not even bother to disturb Xena, but spent a lot of time with Gabrielle, asking her many questions about Xena's empire.

Together Gabrielle and Zenobia sat in a secluded living area, away from children, prying eyes and most of the noise. "I want to thank you for helping us in the battle. I don't think we could have done it without your archers. They were amazing!" Gabrielle said.

The Assyrian Queen smiled at the young blonde. "Technically, this was my war too, since the grain was held back in Egypt to my homeland. I'm sure Phraates is quite unhappy at the moment."

Gabrielle nodded, "Xena received word that Phraates did not even put up a fight and surrendered half way into the battle. What a coward," she scoffed.

Zenobia shrugged her shoulder, "he was following Octavius blindly. I'm sure he will try and negotiate a treaty with Xena again. And I'm also sure that Xena will not comply," she smiled. Gabrielle agreed and then the Queen looked around, feeling the silence creeping up on them. She cleared her throat, "how is Xena? I have not spoken to her in a week."

Gabrielle sighed, "she's busy with the treaty at the moment. I asked if she wanted my help, but she refused!" she frowned and then shrugged, "I still want to look at it before she sends it."

Zenobia nodded, "I'm sure she will be happy to do that." She felt curiosity seep into her mind and hadn't had time to ask but she figured since Xena wasn't here, she wanted to know. "Xena's child..."

She saw where this was going and immediately stopped the Queen from further investigation. "It's a really long story," she nervously smiled. "Really...long." Zenobia smiled, not intending to discuss it further, seeing that Gabrielle was being quite sincere.

* * *

Later in the day the sun started setting and Gabrielle had avoided going to see Xena. She didn't want to disturb her even though she desperately wanted to interfere and help her, she knew that Xena wouldn't allow that. After talking with Zenobia for awhile and then teaching a small class she went to her room upstairs and began unloading her bag full of scrolls, clothes and other assortments.

As she turned around with a handful of scrolls she gasped and dropped everything on the floor. Grunting she knelt down and started gathering her things. "Don't you knock?" she grumbled.

Aphrodite shrugged, "sorry! You've been hanging out with Xena too much I can tell," she winked and Gabrielle rolled her eyes brushing passed the goddess to her desk to organize her scrolls.

"Why are you here?" Gabrielle asked in a much softer tone.

"I came here to check on my princess," Aphrodite smiled sweetly, clasping her hands together.

Gabrielle turned around and arched a brow. "If you're talking about Xena, she's in her –"

The goddess scoffed, "no not her!" she set her hands on her large hips. She sighed child-like at Gabrielle. "I mean...I care about Xena too, duh," she smiled. "I was talking about Eve!" Gabrielle eyed her curiously with a puzzled face.

"Right..." she shook her head and went to her bed to pick out the belongings in her bag again. Aphrodite huffed and strolled over to Gabrielle, leaning over her. Gabrielle felt the goddess' presence and felt a bit awkward, almost like a child was watching everything she was doing. "Can I help you?"

Aphrodite tapped her cheek, "actually yes! Ares told me that Xena and that Roman emperor had a bit of a tiff. Did she do something rash because I told her to stay out of trouble!" she reprimanded.

Gabrielle smiled shaking her head. "Well, she almost did something...but," she turned to see the goddess' eyes widen. "Nothing happened." She continued unpacking her things and heard Aphrodite sigh a sigh of relief. "Why do you care so much about Xena's baby anyway?"

The Love Goddess scoffed, "well, considering I kind of gave the baby to her...I think I'm inclined to care, dontcha think?"

The blondes stared at one another and Gabrielle was convinced that Aphrodite was nothing like her brother Ares, she didn't understand this kind of warmth from an Olympian, especially since she was in Xena's favor. Without answering Aphrodite grew impatient. "I'm just going to find Xena myself," she smiled and disappeared. Gabrielle groaned and left her room, running down the stairs to Xena's office.

A few minutes later she arrived in baited breath and saw Xena asleep at her desk. She folded her arms and saw Aphrodite leaning on the desk reading the scroll that Xena had been working on. Xena had her arms folded on the desk and her head resting on her arms, sleeping soundly.

"Aphrodite!" Gabrielle angrily whispered. "What are you doing?!" she closed the door behind her making sure nobody would come in after her.

The goddess finished reading the scroll and set it back on the desk. "This is very detailed!" she acknowledged. "She's been working on this for awhile, huh?" she stood up and bent down next to Xena, hearing her breath softly as she slept through it all. "Aw, she's so tired," she pouted. "Poor thing." She stood up straight and saw a small grin on Gabrielle's face. "She should be in bed, not in this...place," she crinkled her nose. Snapping her fingers all three were now in Xena's room and Xena in her bed.

Gabrielle huffed, brushing her arms unconsciously. "You should really warn someone before you do that!" she whispered. Xena stirred in her sleep and lay on her side, becoming adjusted to her bed. Gabrielle tip toed closer to the bed as Aphrodite stood beside it. Gabrielle gradually sat on the edge of the other side of the bed, watching Xena sleep soundly, not the least bit disturbed by their conversation.

Aphrodite saw the wooden Chinese doll on a table nearby. She hastily made her way over and picked up the wooden doll. "Eve really likes this doll." She smiled. Setting the doll down she came round to the other side of the bed and Gabrielle watched her intently as the goddess out stretched her hand. "Relax, I'm not going to do anything." Gabrielle was still skeptical of the goddess' move. She saw her place her hand gently on Eve and a smile came to the Love Goddess' lips. "Feisty little thing!" Aphrodite grinned wider. "She should allow her mother some sleep, at least for tonight." Removing her hand Xena shifted her body slightly furrowing her eyebrows.

Gabrielle leaned in closer but Xena did not awaken. "What did you do?" she asked Aphrodite. The goddess folded her arms. "Relax, Gabrielle! Both are asleep now, resting. Isn't that what you want?" she raised her eyebrows and Gabrielle didn't protest to that. She liked to see Xena rest even if it was for a little while. "Well I guess they're in your hands now. I just wanted to check on the two of them," she winked. "I will be back in two months!" and with that she disappeared.

Gabrielle sighed heavily and laid down next to Xena watching her sleep again. _Two months? By the gods, Eve will be here!_ She soon began to realize that their lives were about to change drastically for the zillionth time, but she promised Xena that she'd be here for her, and she wasn't going to back on her promise. She grabbed Xena's hand kissing it softly and leaned her head against the pillow staring at the slumbering empress in front of her. "I'm not going to leave you," she whispered. Xena did not stir awake and her breathing slowed to a soft hum.


	46. Chapter 46

**AN: good grief. This took me awhile to write with classes in the way. This is very much a relaxed chapter, no crazy stuff going on. I promise Eve will arrive in the next chapter. Enjoy everyone ;)**

_Chapter 44_

It had been a month since Xena sent the decree to Octavius. Her treaty was much better than what he proposed to her a month ago at the end of the battle. It had felt like eons since that time –almost like a whole year had gone by unnoticed. She stated in the treaty that she wanted control of Egypt in its entirety as well as the northern half of North Africa. She wasn't going to go back on her deal and it seemed that Octavius knew that he had lost. His response was curt and a simple agreement to her proposal.

Xena promised to leave his precious Rome alone like she said in his tent last month. She was to have strictly political relations with the Roman Empire and nothing more. The Assyrian Royal family had gone back to their homeland and Xena lifted the grain tax for Zenobia and Allat. She figured that was the least she could do since they helped out so much during the battle. Cleopatra was in control of Egypt for so long and while Xena thought she was an unfit queen, she noticed that she had regular trade with Assyria. Xena knew that to keep close ties with Zenobia and Allat that she would have to trade with them equally. Gabrielle mentioned that taxing the hell out of Assyria and Egypt's grain supply to Assyria was unnecessary and very outdated.

After a lot of paperwork and finagling Xena was able to send the grain from Egypt to Assyria with no added taxes. Zenobia would be grateful the next time she received the next shipment in by a Grecian ship, knowing that it was Xena's doing.

Throughout the month Xena was able to relax a bit more and Gabrielle as well. Gabrielle moved her things into Xena's room as she promised she would do two months ago. Solan still with a splinted arm and leg he taught his favorite classes in the afternoons when Gabrielle was busy with Xena doing gods knows what.

Xena had proposed an idea to Gabrielle and it took quite a lot of talking but the blonde finally relented. Xena wanted to have the young female students participate in combat training. She reiterated that this was not training for war but for self defense. She felt that girls and young women didn't know how to defend themselves and since this was a school of math, science, philosophy –courtesy of Gabrielle –she wanted girls to learn how to fight if need be. The girls in the school were no older than eleven and no younger than five. She knew that if girls knew how to defend themselves against men at an early age that their lives would run more smoothly in the long run. Xena also suggested that she'd be the one to teach the sessions throughout the day when she wasn't busy with documents and treaties in her office. It would allow her to de-stress and not be cooped up in her office all day. She wanted to at least contribute something to the school as she hadn't really done anything except provide the teachers, classrooms, food and room and board for the students.

Mid morning on a very sunny day with minimal clouds Xena stood with her sword in front of at least twenty young girls ages ranging from six to eleven years old. Their session was held outside beyond the palace gardens in a wide open space. She had each girl spaced out accordingly so they wouldn't hit each other.

She held up her finger and demonstrated with a wooden post next to her. "When an enemy comes towards you, never use your weapon first, got it?" she instructed and the girls nodded their heads in silence. "But," she grinned, "if he comes at you with a weapon what are you going to do?" she asked playfully testing their listening skills.

"Use hand to hand combat first," all the girls answered in unison. Xena smiled bobbing her head, proud of them that they were actually listening to her and her instructions.

Gabrielle wiped her hands with a cloth to get the wet paint off. She had been painting parts of Eve's new room next to Xena's room. She heard Xena's voice coming from outside and she felt curious. Initially she wasn't keen on Xena allowing to teach young girls how to fight but she thought it was a good idea in the end after Xena explained her reasons for this decision. She walked over to the archway and leaned against the wall watching Xena carefully instructing the young girls. They were all very focused on her and didn't talk while she spoke –probably because Xena kind of scared them a little bit. Gabrielle smiled as she watched Xena teach her class by herself. She saw that she was being very patient, a skill that Xena didn't possess though she was learning.

All the girls copied Xena's move with their wooden swords and she swung the large blade into the wooden post slowly. They followed her instructions and slowly swung the sword to the side.

"Very good!" Xena smiled at the girls' progress. She saw small smiles on all their bright faces. She then noticed Gabrielle watching the class and eyed her knowingly. "I want you all to practice that move with a partner," she said and they turned to the girl next to them and practiced as instructed.

Xena looked all the girls and saw a girl, the youngest in the group, struggling a bit with her partner. She set her sword down on the ground and came behind the small girl. She was very small and came up to Xena's knee in height so she knelt down and grabbed onto the small girl's wrists.

Gabrielle observed Xena's interaction with the tiny girl and smiled folding her arms. She stepped into the session and watched each pair of girls sparring with each other with their wooden swords. Each one was so focused that they didn't even notice her walking in between their session. Smiling she walked over to Xena helping the young girl and leaned on the stone wall.

Xena guided the girl's wrists against her partner slowly. "You must remained focused on your enemy."

The girl frowned and looked over her shoulder at Xena. "But Amilia is my friend," she said in a tiny meek voice.

Xena grinned tempted to laugh, "we're just pretending. You can pretend, right?" she answered in a soft voice. The girl nodded her head and furrowed her eyebrows facing Amilia, a girl two years older than she was. "It doesn't matter if your enemy is bigger than you. Size doesn't matter," Xena whispered in the girl's ear. She then peered behind her at Gabrielle with a smug gleam. Gabrielle rolled her eyes knowing that she was making an inside joke about her height compared to hers.

Amilia swung the sword at her opponent and she almost knocked the wooden sword out of the girl's hands but Xena held onto her wrists firmly. "Don't be scared. I got you, alright?" Xena reassured the small girl. The girl huffed and Xena guided the sword at Amilia and hit her in the arm lightly. "Strike one right in the arm!" Xena exclaimed and put her hand up and the girl high-fived her feeling quite proud of herself. Xena then got up off the ground from her knees and pat the girl's shoulder. "Now just hold onto the sword tightly and never let go, okay? Be fierce!" the girl nodded and then swung at Amilia again, knocking her down to the ground swiftly.

Gabrielle gasped and covered her mouth. Xena cringed as Amilia hit the ground backside first. "Maybe not _that_ fierce..." she muttered and then walked over to Gabrielle. She folded her arms as she surveyed the training session of the girls. They seemed to be doing well so far and nobody was getting hurt, something that Gabrielle was afraid of.

"what do you think Gabrielle?" Xena asked peering down at her blonde companion.

Gabrielle sighed shaking her head. "Well, I thought this was going to be a disaster but you are a very good teacher I gotta admit."

"I'll take that as a compliment..." the empress smirked. "See Gabrielle, I can teach these girls how to fight while you teach them philosophical bullshit," she grinned widely and Gabrielle arched a brow at her raven haired friend.

"Ha-ha...very funny." Gabrielle lamented and observed the girls with Xena off to the side.

Xena smiled and nudged her friend in the arm lightly. "Two very opposite subjects that can work so well together, imagine that?" she winked and Gabrielle's cheeks blushed. As they continued to stand in silence Xena saw one of the older girls tackling her partner on the ground rolling around on the sand. "Hey! No! Girls!" Xena yelled out but they seemed to be ignoring her. Gabrielle stifled a laugh and saw Xena hastily walking over to the preteens and hoisted one of them up off the other one. Gabrielle sighed and made her way to help Xena restrain the two heated girls.

Gabrielle held one girl while Xena detained the other with the girl's arms behind her back. "This is not a real fight, why are you fighting your partner?" Xena demanded an answer.

The raven haired girl struggled to get free from Xena's hold but the more she struggled the tighter the hold became. The others halted their training and all eyes were on them now. "Go back to your training!" Xena commanded and they widened their eyes and obeyed. Xena let go of the girl and handed her the wooden sword. "Go inside, the both of you," she nodded her head to the exit.

The brunette's mouth gaped. "Are you serious?! She hit me first and –" she then saw the menacing glare from the empress and shut her mouth immediately. "Yes ma'am," she and her partner hastily made their way off the training ground and back into the palace, bickering silently to each other.

Gabrielle stood beside with a smug grin and Xena sighed turning to her friend and saw her sly smile. "What?"

"I'm proud of you, Xena," she nodded her head and Xena cocked her head to the side waiting for an explanation. "You didn't lose your temper, not even a little bit!" Xena rolled her eyes.

After concluding the training session all the girls went inside to attend to other classes after they ate something. Xena and Gabrielle trailed in after them once they put up the wooden weapons inside the palace walls. Solan hobbled over to both women with a crutch. Gabrielle eyed him carefully and smiled at his pitiful state.

Xena didn't share the same expression as her dear friend, but one of concern for her son. "Solan I wish you would stay put," she lamely said. Solan hobbled over and put an arm around his mother and she smirked.

"I'm alright! I can walk just fine," he said more trying to convince himself than Xena and Gabrielle. The two women shared a glance and smiled at Solan.

"Yeah right! Try it without the crutch then," Gabrielle challenged. Solan set the crutch aside and Xena frowned, holding onto Solan so he wouldn't potentially fall over.

"She's just kidding," Xena glared at Gabrielle and handed the crutch back to Solan. He hobbled alongside the two as they slowly made their way through the hallway. "I'm sure you miss playing chess with Allat," she gathered.

Solan sighed and quickened his pace to keep up. "Yeah. He got really sick of losing to me! He shouldn't have ever introduced me to the game," he grinned.

Gabrielle interjected as they slowly continued down the hall coming to the staircase that lead up to Xena's room, her own and Eve's. "Oh Xena, would you like to see what I did to Eve's room?" she smiled. Xena's smile beamed and nodded.

Solan gasped, "I want to come see too!" he pleaded. Gabrielle and Xena stopped at the stairs and Gabrielle put her hand on her hip.

"You want to try and make it up the stairs?" she teased and Solan looked up at the long way up the stairs. He chuckled nervously. "On second thought, I'll see it later..." he said and hobbled away. As Gabrielle and Xena made their way up the stairs they heard a loud crash and immediately turned their heads. Solan ran into a vase and it shattered all over the floor. "I'm fine! Just a vase..." he sheepishly said. Xena covered her face with her hand groaning inwardly and Gabrielle laughed under her breath.

* * *

Once they reached Eve's bedroom just as Xena was about to open the door Gabrielle blocked the entrance. "Gabrielle!" Xena frowned. The blonde smiled widely and was not budging from her spot.

"Close your eyes," she asked of her friend. Xena rolled her eyes and Gabrielle anxiously huffed. "Just do it! For me?" she asked hopeful that she'd comply. Xena closed her eyes and folded her arms. "I want you to be surprised," she opened the door and grabbed hold of Xena's hand leading her in.

Xena scoffed, "as if a baby isn't enough of a surprise?" she blindly followed Gabrielle into the room tightening her grip as she couldn't see each step in front of her. A few more steps in and they stopped. Xena was starting to become impatient the longer her eyes stayed closed off to the room. "Can I open my eyes now?" she firmly asked.

Gabrielle grabbed a few things that seemed out of place as she and Racha spent the morning in here painting. "Just a few more seconds!" she ran to the other side of the room and set the miscellaneous things off to the side.

" _Gabrielle_..." Xena said lowly and crossed her arms. Gabrielle came to her side with an anxious grin and tapped Xena's shoulder. "Okay you can open them now," she said innocently. Xena's eyes fluttered open and she looked around the room, not recognizing it at all. Before it looked so sterile and lonely but now it was bright and full of life.

Xena smiled and sauntered around the room examining all the changes that were made. She then looked to Gabrielle and saw she was quite proud of herself and her accomplishments. "You did all of this?" she marveled.

"Well, not all by myself. Racha helped me. We worked on it together while you were in your office or asleep," she shrugged her shoulder. Xena smirked and nodded her head at Gabrielle.

"Very clever girl," she smiled. "You are wonderful, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle grinned smugly. "I know!" she exclaimed nonchalantly. As Xena circled around the room Gabrielle felt the need to spill her guts while Xena was vulnerable. "I have another surprise for you, but it'll have to wait until dinner." She began backing away out of Eve's room and Xena frowned.

"Gabrielle, I don't really like surprises." She followed her out into the hallway. "The room wasn't enough?!" she called out as Gabrielle made her way down the stairs.

"Dinner Xena..." Gabrielle wagged her finger and Xena grunted.

"That's hours from now! Gabrielle I don't think I can handle any more surprises!" she made her way down the stairs and Gabrielle stopped at the bottom step staring up at her raven haired companion.

"For someone who hates surprises you sure are curious!" she teased and walked on.

_She's going to make me have grey hair._

* * *

Later that evening Gabrielle had suggested they have dinner in Xena's room instead of downstairs. As Xena sat in a chair at her table in her room Gabrielle had a box she carried with her to the table. Xena eyed the box and she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Gabrielle, what is this about?" Xena asked growing impatient by the minute. Gabrielle then sat down in front of Xena at the table and casually placed the box on the table. Xena examined the box with her eyes and it was a simple box, nothing ornate about it in the least. "What is it?" she asked curiously.

Gabrielle smugly smiled and pushed the box closer to Xena's side of the table. "Open it," she egged her on and Xena cautiously took the box in her hands. It wasn't heavy nor super light either. Gabrielle anxiously waited for Xena to open the box and she was taking forever. She was being far too analytical about this and she twiddled her thumbs on the table. Finally, Xena took the lid off the box and her lips pursed as she saw a note with her name on it. She glanced up at Gabrielle then carefully took the letter out of the box opening it to read what was inside.

After reading the small note Xena put the parchment on the table, raising her eyebrow at Gabrielle. "Who told you it was my birthday?" she frowned.

Gabrielle smiled at Xena's response. She seemed annoyed that it was her own birthday but she was dying to see her expression and it was worth waiting for. "There's more inside the box!" she happily exclaimed. Xena sighed and looked inside rummaging through the box and pulled out a collection of scrolls. Confused, she opened each scroll. There must have been six scrolls and they were obviously written by Gabrielle.

She took her time looking through the first scroll and a smile came to her lips. "You wrote about your life..here? with me? Why Gabrielle?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulder. "I wanted to share with you what I see on a daily basis." Xena grinned at her and began looking at the second scroll reading over it in a timely manner. "Happy Birthday!" she yelled and Xena was taken aback from Gabrielle's sudden outburst.

Xena quirked her mouth to the side and set the scrolls back into the box. "Thank you Gabrielle. That was quite a surprise." She smiled and got up from the chair and put the box of scrolls on her bedside table. "I will read these later."

"I have something else for you," Gabrielle left the table and exited the room to grab yet another present. Xena grunted and saw her friend come back in with something else behind her backside.

"You are full of surprises aren't you?" Xena smirked. Gabrielle then presented the gift to Xena and it was wrapped nicely in white fabric. She graciously took the gift and unwrapped it carefully. Her eyes widened and saw it was a new scabbard with gold embroidered in the leather. It was brown and by the looks of it, it was obvious that it took quite a long time to make by hand. "Gabrielle...this is..." she eyed her and saw Gabrielle's cheeks flush. "Thank you!" she grinned widely.

She then began tapping her cheek pensively and Gabrielle cocked her head to the side in bewilderment. "I feel the need to gift you with something as well," Xena shyly admitted.

Gabrielle began chuckling, "it's your birthday Xena! I don't think that's how it works," she giggled.

Xena set the new scabbard on the table and sighed. "I don't remember the last time I celebrated my birthday. To be honest, I forgot about it," she smiled weakly.

Gabrielle set her hand on Xena's and stared into her eyes. "Well that's really sad, dontcha think?" she grinned. "Now that I know when your birthday is...I'll make sure you never forget it!"

Xena frowned, "gods forbid whoever told you when my birthday is..." she shook her head and took a drink of the wine in front of her. "I will be using that new scabbard though," she smirked and Gabrielle nodded, feeling quite proud of herself at the moment.

Half an hour passed by and the two finished eating and Gabrielle kept talking about Eve any chance that she got. Xena relaxed in her chair casually listening to Gabrielle's tangents. Truthfully, she thought that Gabrielle was more excited about Eve's arrival than she was, which wasn't a bad thing she supposed. Gabrielle was really kind and genuinely a good person, and obviously overexcited about everything which lightened Xena's mood from time to time.

Xena was able to interrupt Gabrielle when she grabbed her hand silencing her immediately. Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, "What?" curiously eyeing Xena's intentions. She placed her friend's hand on her swollen abdomen and Gabrielle's eyes widened then expressed a small smile. Xena observed the many expressions on Gabrielle's face and couldn't help but grin at her ever changing facial expressions.

"That was a drop kick," Gabrielle acknowledged. "Just like you," she gleamed.

Xena grinned, "I know!" her eyes widened and Gabrielle let her hand slip from Xena's hold.

"So, what do you think about the gifts I gave you for your birthday?" Gabrielle curiously wondered. Xena smiled, peering down at the life within her then towards Gabrielle.

"The gifts are nice, but you and Eve are a gift to me" she crinkled her nose as her smile widened. Gabrielle felt her cheeks redden and she shied away from Xena's stare.

* * *

Early the next morning Gabrielle woke up to a bright sun shining in her face. She rubbed her eyes and rolled over beneath the covers to find Xena still asleep lying on her side in her long sleeved black dress. Gabrielle slowly got out of bed making sure not to disturb her sleeping companion.

Xena stirred awake as she felt Gabrielle get out of the bed, leaving an empty spot next to hers. "Where are you going?" she mumbled.

Gabrielle cringed, upset that she awoke Xena. She came to her side of the bed again and sat down, brushing a few strands of hair behind Xena's ear. "Sorry I didn't mean to wake you up. I was going to prepare for my class. You know, get an early start," she smiled.

"I'll come help you," Xena answered as her eyes fluttered open smiling at a pair of green eyes staring back at her.

Gabrielle shook her head stifling a laugh. "It's alright I can handle it myself. You should sleep, you don't have any reason to get up! No wars...no contracts," she went on and on and Xena halted her.

"I need to teach my class soon," she yawned. Gabrielle eyed her knowingly and Xena smiled. "Once I get up that is." Gabrielle shook her head smirking and began changing her clothes for today and set a fresh towel on Xena's bed for her.

Before she left the room she peered back at Xena whom was still in bed. Smiling she closed the door quietly and went down the stairs. She immediately saw Solan telling the young boys stories about the war. Frowning she hastily made her way over to Solan and put her arm around his slim body.

"Solan! Whatcha doing?" she grinned nervously.

"I was just telling them about the battle. It was awesome!" he grinned. The young boys nodded their heads waiting to hear more.

"Alright!" Gabrielle laughed anxiously. "I think that's enough story telling for now, huh?" she ushered the boys to their classes and they moaned, wanting to hear more. She then turned to Solan and folded her arms. "Are you serious? Solan don't tell them those things!"

He shrugged, "Gabrielle, it was awesome, you gotta admit! Plus mother was great in the battle. She won! I mean we all won!" he sighed with a large smile and Gabrielle smacked her hand against her forehead. He looked around and didn't see Xena anywhere and her class was going to start within an hour or so. "Where's mother?"

Gabrielle put her hands on her hips, "she's in bed still. She'll be down in a few moments I'm sure of it," she smirked.

Solan nodded and then his eyes perked up. "Oh! I have something for her, actually...it's for my sister, but I think she'll like it." he hobbled over to his room and Gabrielle was tempted to laugh as he slowly made his way back to his room down the long corridor.

Once he entered his room he opened his drawer in his desk and pulled out the gift. He turned around and Gabrielle stepped forward. He handed the gift to her and she smiled. It was a small turquoise dress for Eve.

"I think your mother will really like this a lot!" Gabrielle folded the dress in her arms and left his room with Solan following her to her classroom. He liked to help her set up the room in the mornings whenever he could.

"Really? I had Racha make it for me. I picked out the fabric though..." he sheepishly remarked.

* * *

Xena strolled down the stairs in a white and black dress with mesh sleeves and saw her group of girls were already waiting for her outside. She peeked into one of Gabrielle's classes and she noticed her immediately. Xena smiled and leaned against the archway as she watched Gabrielle excitingly explain a story with illuminating facial expressions and sound effects as usual.

"And that concludes our class today!" Gabrielle said and all the students ran passed Xena in a hurry to go play somewhere else for their break. Gabrielle grinned and came to stand in front of her lurker. "You're finally awake!"

Xena smirked, "are you patronizing me?" she teased. Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders and then she thought of Solan's gift. She immediately went to the front of the classroom and brought out the gift. She ran back to Xena and presented the gift to her. " _More_ gifts? Gabrielle it's not my birthday anymore," her eyes widened.

"Not from me, it's from Solan. It's for Eve," she grinned and Xena unfolded the fabric and revealed a dress. She smiled and ran her hands over the tiny outfit. Her face beamed.

"He is so thoughtful," Xena remarked and Gabrielle agreed."When I see him I will thank him," she tucked the outfit in her arm and made her way outside to attend to her training session with the adolescent girls. "But first, a bit of sword training!" she winked at her blonde friend.

* * *

In the middle of training the young girls one of them raised her hand and Xena paused her instructions. "Yes?"

The girl unconsciously kicked the sand with her sandal. "What if our attacker is older than us?" she asked shyly.

Xena bent down to meet faces with the young girl. "Lesson one, never run from your enemy! It makes you a target," she poked the girl in the chest gently and the girl smiled. Xena smiled back as a response. "So what do _you_ think you should do?"

The girl tapped her cheek pensively and Xena's grin widened. "I should...use my size as advantage. I am really fast!"

Xena nodded in agreement. "Right you are!" she stood up straight again and clamped her hands together. "Let us pretend that I am the enemy. I am bigger and stronger, right?" the girls nodded. Xena then grabbed herself a long wooden sword. "What will be your first move, little one?" she looked down upon the small girl.

She seemed shy and bit her bottom lip. The eight year old held her sword up and was about to strike Xena then stopped. "I don't want to hurt you..."

Xena grinned, "don't worry it's just practice. Come on, show me," she stood in a defensive stance ready for the girl to attack her. The young girl nodded and swung at Xena's legs, Xena blocked the attack easily, but she then ran behind Xena and hit her in her calves with quite a blow. Xena's mouth gaped and she turned around to see a devious smile on the small girl's lips.

"Now with a real sword you would have sliced my legs!" Xena said and ushered the girl back to her spot in the front row. She bent down to eye level with all the girls. "I want you all to understand that weapons are very dangerous and you should only use them when needed, got it?" they all nodded. She put the play sword down and grinned. "Alright, we're finished here." All the girls ran to the weapon rack and put their wooden swords up running back into the palace.

Xena sighed and then saw Solan hobbling to the entrance just as the girls ran by him they nearly tripped him. "Sorry Solan!" a group of the youngest girls said as they kept running. He shook his head and then the two eldest girls walked by him and gave him sly flirtatious glances. Solan eyed them and he was about three years older than them but he grinned back. Xena raised an eyebrow at the young teens' interaction and folded her arms coming to stand next to her son.

"Girls on your mind?" she startled him and he took a step back placing his hand on his chest to slow his breathing. She saw his cheeks redden and she smirked.

"Mother...don't embarrass me," he shied away and Xena chuckled under her breath. He hobbled alongside her and she walked slowly next to him. "I'd look way more manly if I wasn't hobbling around like an old man," he joked.

Xena smiled. "Your leg and arm won't be broken forever, Solan." She set her hand on his forearm and turned him to face her. "Thank you for the gift. I am sure Eve will love it coming from you."

He beamed. "Really? I hope she does." He crutched onward back to his room and Xena followed him watching his every step. "I am excited to finally meet her." He nearly slipped and Xena caught his fall. He nervously grinned. "I'm fine mother," he protested.

"Can you make it to your room in one piece or am I going to have to get Gabrielle to babysit you?" she teased.

Solan glared at her and continued to his room. "Ha-ha...although Gabrielle is really entertaining. I wouldn't mind if she were my babysitter," he jested. Xena rolled her eyes and eyed him carefully as they walked through the long hallway.


	47. Chapter 47

**AN: you all just got lucky I had time to update twice this week. Enjoy lol.**

_Chapter 45 –April 23_

Outside Xena was teaching her training session with the girls as she had done every day for the last month now. The skies were rather dark and Xena thought it was to rain in a few hours, and soon. If it had started raining then she would have to cut the lesson short, which wasn't a problem.

Continuing the lesson like a normal day she instructed the girls to thrust the sword forward into their enemies, swiftly and with a lot of force. Each girl copied her move and Xena felt a slow emerging pain in her lower abdomen. She winced and bent over, catching her breath. The girls crinkled their noses and lowered their weapons staring at their teacher with concern. Once she composed herself she stood up straight and saw many eyes on her.

Eagerly smiling she waved it off continuing the lesson as she intended to finish it. The girls looked at each other and then back at Xena, following her every move again. In the middle of her lesson she felt the pain return and with a vengeance. Her mouth gaped and cradled her lower abdomen, feeling the pain worsen as she bent over, gritting her teeth. She dropped her weapon and hissed softly.

The two older girls in the back row rose on her toes to see their empress doubled over in pain. Ethika, the feisty brunette preteen folded her arms as she tried to see what was going on. Her partner, Penelope nudged her friend in the ribs. "What should we do?" she asked panicking slightly.

Ethika saw the empress's cheeks pale and she raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to find Miss Gabrielle!" she began running off then halted, "go tell the young-lings to go inside while I find her!"

Penelope nodded, "right...okay," she ran to the front line and clapped her hands trying to get the girls' attention. "so um, class is over. Let's go inside?" she said hoping that they'd comply. But as she predicted the girls didn't move but actually peered behind her to see what was happening to Xena. She held her hands up preventing the girls from stepping closer. "Hey I'm serious girls. We need to go inside."

Amilia frowned, "but what about Miss Xena? Is she going to be okay?" she asked concerned for the empress.

Penelope looked behind her and saw Xena slowly standing up and her breathing had slowed. "She'll be fine," she hoped and saw Xena express a soft weak smile patting her shoulder.

* * *

Ethika continued running down the hallway asking where Gabrielle could be. She ran into Solan as he walked through the hall. His arm had healed and his leg was still healing, he had it wrapped and in a metal splint, limping slightly. She slowed her labored breathing and coughed. Solan eyed her cautiously. "Have...have you seen...Gabrielle?" she bent down, letting her palms rest on her knees allowing herself to catch her breath.

He raised an eyebrow, "she's in the library right now. Why? Has something happened?"

The young teen shook her head, "no I just think the empress..." she stood up straight putting her hands on her hips. "She's in labor or something, I don't know. I'll get Gabrielle!" she then ran off to the library which was on the other side of the palace.

Solan blinked and he made his way outside where his mother was as fast as his leg would allow him to. Once he reached the archway he saw a crowd of girls surrounding Xena and he limped over there, pushing through the girls. Xena looked up and saw Solan staring at her, a smile came to her lips.

"Let me help you," he assisted and came to put her arm around his shoulder supporting her weight on him she stood up. Together they walked a few steps until she bent over and moaned in agony. He frowned and encouraged his mother to walk with him. "We need to get inside, can you do that?" he asked and Xena nodded, resting her hand on Solan's shoulder for more support. His slim frame was getting a workout right about now. They walked further, closer to the palace even with his still hurt leg. He smiled as they came closer to the archway.

A trail of girls followed Solan and Xena slowly, watching anxiously. Penelope huffed and grabbed all the swords that were left on the ground and put them back in the weapon rack. She felt a rain drop hit her head and looked up to see the clouds cover the sun and everything was dark.

* * *

Ethika finally reached the library and Gabrielle saw the out of breath teen enter. She set her scrolls aside that she was working on. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

The girl nodded, "yes but...the empress..." she breathed heavily. Gabrielle stood up, not allowing the girl to finish. She ran down the hallway and found Solan walking with Xena in the entrance of the palace. She came to Xena's side and freed Solan from aiding his mother.

She saw Xena's forehead was wet from sweat and her cheeks were pale. "I knew something was wrong with you this morning when you woke up," she grinned and helped her friend walk towards the stairs. Xena stopped and moaned loudly alarming all the girls around them. Gabrielle saw prying eyes and she nodded towards Ethika. "Why don't you take them in the living area...to play a game or something?" she suggested. Ethika nodded and nudged to Penelope to help her usher the girls elsewhere.

Solan immediately felt helpless as he watched Gabrielle slowly help his mother to the stairs, which seemed like miles away. "Is there something I can do?"

Gabrielle nodded, smiling weakly, "could you find Racha?" he nodded and limped off to find the hand maiden. She turned her attention back to Xena and pulled her closer to her side as they approached the stairs. She exhaled looking up the stairs. "If I could carry you, I would," she teased and Xena glared at her through gritted teeth.

Finally after a long painstaking journey up the stairs Gabrielle opened Xena's bedroom door and gradually made their way to the bed. Gabrielle set Xena down and pulled back the top blanket. Xena waved her hand vigorously and Gabrielle stopped messing with the sheets. "Take this off of me!" she tried to remove her long sleeved shrug and Gabrielle hastily took it off throwing it to the side. Xena scooted back in the bed and leaned back on the headboard, closing her eyes. Gabrielle sat next to her not sure what exactly to do right now except stay next to her.

Minutes later Racha had not came into the room and Gabrielle was beginning to become restless. "I'm going to find Racha," she got up then felt Xena tug on her arm pulling her back.

"No!" she groaned, clutching onto the sheets as the pain scorched throughout her body. "Please, Gabrielle. Don't leave," she begged.

Gabrielle complied and sat down, holding onto Xena's hand feeling her squeezing it tightly. "Alright, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay with you," she smiled. Xena grinned in return until another surge of pain went through her body and she moaned softly.

Racha finally entered the room with a basket of linens and closed the door behind her. Her smile was wide and she placed the basket on the bed. Gabrielle was relieved that the woman finally showed up after what seemed like an eternity.

The maiden ripped the blankets off Xena's bed and placed older ones on the bed. Gabrielle eyed her carefully then felt Xena's grip tighten on her hand. Her mouth gaped. "Xena, my hand!" she felt her bones cracking and Xena leaned her head against the headboard. She didn't seem to care for Gabrielle's excruciating pain at the moment. Gabrielle brushed Xena's bangs back and tried her best to remain calm.

"Xena, hey, just think that this will all be over soon and you finally get to see Eve," she nervously smiled and Xena lifted her head glaring at her with a large frown. "Just think how happy you will be!" Gabrielle felt her little pep talk wasn't really getting through to Xena.

"Be quiet..." Xena hissed, "just be quiet," she said lowly and embraced another surge of pain, she gritted her teeth and squeezed Gabrielle's hand once more. The blonde winced as her knuckles turned white.

* * *

Solan stood at the bottom of the staircase and heard his mother's moans coming from upstairs. He sighed and folded his arms. Ethika made her way over to him and then Xena's voice echoed through the marble halls. They both cringed and she then looked to Solan. "It's been a couple of hours, aren't you gonna go up there?" she asked.

He shook his head, "no way."

"But that's your mother..." Ethika put her hands on her hips, a bit surprised at his response.

He chuckled, "have you met my mother? I'm not going up there," he shook his head once more. "She'll probably rip my head off," he grinned.

Ethika didn't find that amusing but then started laughing at the thought of Solan being scolded by his mother especially at a time like this.

Solan eyed the pretty brunette and thought that this wasn't going to be over any time soon so he smiled deviously. "Do you want to play a game?" he suggested.

"What kind of game?" she was more intrigued now.

He shrugged, "do you know a game called _chess_?" he grabbed her arm and lead her to the sitting area and she followed willingly, feeling curious.

* * *

A loud clap of thunder roared in the dark skies and Gabrielle still sat down next to Xena. Racha was in the front of Xena and she smiled at Xena, even her blushed cheeks didn't seem to diminish her beauty. Gabrielle saw the look on Racha's face and turned back to Xena. "You can do this, Xena!" she encouraged the empress. Xena scooted backward on the bed slowly and leaned forward. "You've killed warlords, you run an empire, you won battles, this will be a piece of cake!" Gabrielle grinned.

Xena groaned in agony and widened her eyes. " _Gabrielle_!" she yelled out and searched for Gabrielle's hand, tightening her death grip once again. Gabrielle ignored the pain and kept her eyes on Xena occasionally looking back to Racha, who was completely composed.

Xena's voice carried in the room and Gabrielle felt herself sweating just looking at her. She peered back and saw a smile on Racha's face. Gabrielle then shared a smile and Xena groaned in agony."You're doing great," she reassured her friend.

At last after three hours a much awaited cry was heard and Xena lolled her head back, exhaling deeply, thankful that it was over with. Gabrielle scooted to the end of the bed and saw Eve now wrapped in a linen in Racha's arms. The maiden handed the crying infant to Gabrielle and she smiled at her. She went back to the side of the bed and Xena lifted herself up slowly lifting her chin to see her daughter in Gabrielle's arms.

Xena's arms reached out and Gabrielle placed baby Eve in her arms slowly. The feeling of holding something that was never supposed to be was quite an invigorating feeling and satisfying as well. Memories of Solan as a baby came rushing to her mind and she stared down at the small life within her arms, smiling widely. Her finger grazed Eve's cheek and she slowed her wailing, opening her eyes and Xena grinned staring at her confused wandering eyes.

"See, she's not scared of you," Gabrielle teased. Xena turned her head to her friend and chuckled softly at her.

"I have...waited a long time to finally see her face," she tucked Eve's arms in the linen and situated herself beneath the blankets. Gabrielle scooted closer to Xena and leaned over to get a closer look at baby Eve. She smiled and saw Xena's smile did not dissipate the entire time.

"So I take it, you're not scared anymore?" Gabrielle asked in a hushed voice. Xena turned her and shook her head and the blonde grinned.

* * *

Solan and Ethika sat in the sitting area for quite awhile as he introduced the young teen to the game of chess, which Allat introduced to him awhile ago. As they awaited for Eve's arrival, they had fallen asleep on the lounge with Ethika draped over Solan and he had his leg propped up. Racha came down the stairs and observed Solan sleeping soundly with a girl on top of him. She smirked and carried the basket beneath her arm. Waltzing over to the empress's son she poked his arm, startling him. He sat up and Ethika woke up as well, rubbing her cheek softly.

"Someone is waiting for you upstairs," the maiden said and disappeared without a word. Solan groaned and rubbed his eyes. He looked outside and saw a violent storm. Ethika smiled and nudged Solan in the ribs. He winced and touched his side, scoffing at the girl.

"You should go meet your new sibling," she egged him on and Solan nodded, standing up to make the long trek up the stairs.

Upon arriving to Xena's room he knocked on the door and heard a soft 'enter' and he opened the door. He saw his mother sleeping as she leaned against the headboard and Gabrielle holding Eve in her arms. He smiled, closing the door behind him he quietly limped over to the bed and Gabrielle sat in a chair.

He leaned in closely and saw his sister sleeping soundly in Gabrielle's arms. "Wow, she's so small!" he whispered. Gabrielle smiled, nodding her head. Peering over at Xena, she was passed out.

Solan saw his sleeping mother and frowned. "How long has she been asleep?"

Gabrielle looked up at Solan, "for about an hour," she supposed. Solan eagerly came closer and he curiously gazed at his little sister, completely oblivious to the world around her.

"Can I hold her?" he asked Gabrielle and she got up from the chair allowing him to take her place. Now that his arm had healed he was quite eager to finally hold her. His smile widened and he stretched his arms out as Gabrielle gently handed him Eve into his embrace. He stared at the infant in his arms and smiled, cradling her small body in his lanky arms. "I expected her to be bigger," he joked. Gabrielle rolled her eyes and watched him intently. "She's still cute though," he admitted shyly.

Gabrielle pat his shoulder gently, "I'm going to grab some food from downstairs and bring it here. Don't go anywhere!" she commanded, pointing her finger at him. Solan nodded and she left the room quietly. He got comfortable in the chair and then saw Eve open her eyes before him. His smile grew and then died down as she started whimpering softly. He felt himself panic inside and didn't know what to do.

Xena was startled awake once she heard Eve's soft cries and saw Solan holding her in his arms. She smiled weakly and adjusted herself in the bed. Solan looked to his now awake mother with fear in his eyes. Her arms reached out to take Eve from his hold and he gladly handed her the baby. He felt so relieved that his mother had woken up just at the right time. She soothed Eve and within moments she halted her whimpering. She looked over at Solan who seemed to be rather stressed out and she chuckled.

"She looks like you when you were a baby," Xena spoke softly. Solan's eyes lightened up at this.

"Really?" he moved over to the bed and watched his sister snuggle in the blanket she was wrapped in. "I'm going to teach her so many fighting moves!" Xena shot him a disapproving look and he nervously smiled. "I mean, if you allow me to." He saved himself and Xena smiled.

Gabrielle came back with a tray of food and saw Xena awake with Eve in her arms as well as Solan on the bed. She smiled and set the tray down on the chair. Solan got up feeling like he needed to be elsewhere. "Well...I'm going to go...play some chess," he anxiously said and hurried to the exit.

Xena furrowed her eyebrows, confused at this. He didn't play chess with anyone else besides Allat. "Allat came back?"

Solan shyly rubbed the back of his head. "No...I found a new opponent." He nodded and Xena eyed him cautiously with a blank face. "I gotta go!" he closed the door and Gabrielle laughed.

"Jeez, what's up with him?" she turned to Xena and she shrugged her shoulders.

Interrupting the intimate moment Aphrodite appeared in the middle of the room. The Love Goddess squealed and came to the opposite side of the bed. "She's _so_ cute!" she peered at Eve and Xena frowned. "Good job, princess," she acknowledged.

" _What_ are you doing here?" Xena asked quietly as Eve stretched one of her arms out of the blanket. Xena's eyes traveled down and grabbed Eve's small fist gingerly.

Aphrodite folded her arms and stared at Gabrielle. "Well I guess _somebody_ didn't tell you I was coming to see you and Eve!" she frowned. Xena turned to her friend and Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

"I...forgot?" nervously smiling she added, "sorry."

Aphrodite huffed in annoyance. "I see how it is. Anyway...see Xena, I told you that you'd be a great mother," she winked and then stood up disappearing within a flash.

Gabrielle furrowed her eyebrows and stared at Xena. "What did she mean by that?" she asked curiously.

Xena thought of that time she and Aphrodite shared a conversation very early on in her pregnancy and she smiled. "Nothing, Gabrielle." Her eyes went back to Eve and she instantly became entranced again.

* * *

_Ten Months Later_

Solan sat in one of the open rooms for guests and Eve sat in front of him. A chess board was in between them and he moved the Queen piece over to a new square. Eve played with one of the chess pieces and he rubbed his chin pensively. "I see that look in your eyes...okay fine," he moved the Queen again and smiled. "I'm sure I got you this time, Eve!"

Eve looked up at him and put the chess piece in her mouth, slobbering all over it. Solan couldn't help but giggle and he moved another piece and threw his hands in the air. "You won again!" he yelled in victory and Eve smiled taking the piece out of her mouth. "How could you do this to me, Eve?" he rolled over on his back and his infant sister began laughing at him as he playfully lost like a sore loser. "Twice in one week! How could you!" he smiled at his sister seeing the bright smile on her chubby cheeks. He held up his finger, "one day I will beat you," he teased and grabbed her hoisting her on his hip.

He walked around the palace and showed her all the rooms within the palace like he always did. Explaining every detail about the home and even stopped by the library. Xena and Gabrielle left Athens as she had a meeting with a very annoying Persian by the name Phraates, trying to start a war between Greece and Persia, once again. They had been gone for a week and he was expecting them to return any day now. Meanwhile Xena allowed Solan to babysit Eve, a bit hesitant to leave her son in charge of a baby, she didn't really want to take Eve with her as it was pose too many questions and it was quite a long journey to the East.

"And this is my room, which you've seen already," Solan said and Eve's wide eyes glanced up at Solan, grabbing his ear. He snatched her hand away and smiled. "Let's go see how the training session is going outside." He walked outside and saw Ethika and Penelope leading the class while Xena was absent. He and Ethika locked eyes and she blushed as they exchanged glances.

Solan smiled at her and Eve smiled as well. "Mother doesn't want me to show you this but it will be our secret, right?" he looked into her eyes and a small giggle escaped Eve's mouth. He nodded, "yeah, I knew I could count on you." He joked.

Suddenly he heard the loud wooden doors open from the front of the palace and turned to see his mother and Gabrielle walking in with full armor on. He smiled and left the training session to greet them.

Xena immediately saw Solan carrying Eve as they made their way towards her. She grinned and rushed forward stretching her arms out to her daughter. Eve responded accordingly and reached out desperately trying to get to her mother. Solan handed his sister to her and she kissed her forehead. Gabrielle smiled at the two and looked at Solan curiously.

"So what did you two do while we were gone?" she asked.

Solan shrugged, "we played chess. She beat me twice," he smirked. Gabrielle shook her head and rest her hand on Xena's shoulder.

"I'm going to start on the documents." She said and Xena nodded. "you're coming, right?"

"Yes Gabrielle," Xena said and Eve ran her tiny fingers over Xena's silver plated shoulder bracers. "You were good for your brother, right?" she grabbed Eve's hand preventing her from probing her armor. She now eyed Solan thanking him. "Thank you for taking care of Eve, Solan."

He dismissed it. it wasn't a chore to him. He loved his sister and thought she was awesome, even if she slobbered all over his chess pieces from time to time. "Don't you need to be with Gabrielle? Something about documents..." he said and Xena paid no attention to him, leaving her eyes only for Eve. "Mother..."

"Yes..." she snapped out of her daydreaming daze. She stared at Eve and then at Solan again, feeling bad that she'd have to allow him to watch her for awhile longer. The look in her eyes said it all and Solan stretched out his arms waiting for Xena to hand over Eve. She smiled and did just that. As soon as Eve was in Solan's arms she began crying and Xena frowned sadly.

Solan shrugged, "she doesn't want me. I guess I'm too boring," he admitted and Xena took Eve back into her arms again and she stopped crying. He smirked as he saw that his mother obviously didn't want to be separated from her but she also had business to take care of.

* * *

Xena entered her office with Eve on her hip and Gabrielle looked up from writing and shook her head. "She can't handle being without you even for a few minutes." She said and Xena sighed. Eve was set on the floor and Xena went to close the door so they wouldn't be disturbed. She knelt down and gave Eve a ball to play with to keep herself occupied while she discussed with Gabrielle.

She sat down opposite Gabrielle now and huffed, feeling drained from the long journey and not to mention she didn't want to have any more problems down the road with Phraates. She almost felt like she should've killed him when she had the chance just like she did with Marc Antony.

"so how do you want to deal with this?" Gabrielle stated, tapping the quill against the wooden desk.

Xena shook her foot thinking quickly. "Phraates obviously is rejected by the Assyrians as well as Octavius," she groaned. "I should've just killed them both," she mumbled.

Gabrielle smirked, "well you didn't so now we have to deal with this idiot again." She began writing hastily and Xena looked at her friend, eyeing her every move. "I think we should blockade the Mediterranean Sea so he shouldn't be able to leave."

" _Another_ Navy blockade? Gabrielle...that didn't work ten months ago and it's not going to work now." She tapped her cheek and then felt a tug on her gauntlet. Eve was standing, leaning on the chair as she death gripped Xena's gauntlet. She smiled and then remained focused. "He is so full of it. I say let him come to Greece." She shrugged.

Gabrielle's mouth gaped at this, a bit surprised Xena was not willing to at least put up a fight. "Is this supposed to be a test? Am I being tested?" she immediately thought. "you're just trying to steer me away from something. Well, Xena! It's not going to work! I think we should put up a border around Athens, just in case," she concluded.

Xena smiled, "whatever you say, Gabrielle. But this time, I'm the commander in _my_ army." Eve began whimpering and she picked her up setting her in her lap, calming her instantly. "See, she agrees." She jested.

"So we _are_ putting a border around Athens?" Gabrielle reassured her partner. The empress nodded, complying with her every whim while Eve pulled at Xena's silver fringed armor. She began writing the details down then pointed the quill at Xena. "Okay but if you change your mind...I'm going to punch you."

"Sure you will." Xena stood up and carried Eve, opening the door, teasingly staring at Gabrielle again. "I'm still waiting for those promised hits you tallied up from when I was pregnant," she smirked. Gabrielle shook her head and continued writing as Xena left the office with Eve in tow.


	48. Chapter 48

**AN: Missed writing on this gem! I am really unsure how to end this but after what I just did, I don't know anymore. I'll just let it take its course...lol. Enjoy and thanks for reading, everybody! ;)**

_Chapter 46_

The long bow creaked from the tight draw. She squinted her seeing eye and locked her target. In a split second she released the arrow and it pierced through the target board. Yelling in victory she brushed some dirt off her sleeves and waltzed over to Solan who looked very proud and even clapped his hands.

Eve was now six years old and quite tall for her age, she towered over girls who were a couple years older than her. Her long dark hair was braided in two long braids which hung loosely on her backside. She smiled and ran to hug Solan tightly. "Did you see the arrow? I hit it right in the middle!"

Solan nodded his head, admiring his much younger sister in her small victory. "I know, you've been working on that for months now," he knelt down nudging her shoulder lightly. Eve's smile grew wider and she hung the bow on her shoulder, heading to grab some water. Solan followed her and set her bow aside on the weapons wrack outside. "We've been out here for awhile, do you want to go inside?"

Eve shrugged and ran inside and Solan sighed, following the ball of energy running through the palace. She almost ran into Racha who was carrying a basket of fresh linens and she grinned. "Sorry, Racha!" Eve called out but didn't stop running. Solan came in shortly after and folded his arms, arching a brow. He was beginning to regret his decision to babysit Eve while Xena and Gabrielle were away for awhile.

"You gotta excuse her, she's a bit excited," Solan admitted and Racha nodded her head smiling at the vibrant child as she continued running down the hall. He frowned calling out, "Eve! Where are you going?!" he grunted and jogged through the hall trying to catch up to her.

Eve kept running, her breath quickening with every step. Her black blouse flowed in the subtle breeze that came in through the open archways. Her tiny footsteps came to a halt as she entered the art room, a new addition courtesy of Gabrielle, of course. She smiled and then Solan slowly trailed in behind her, a bit out of breath trying to keep up with her.

"Eve..." he breathed out slowly, "why did you run all this way to the art room for gods' sake..."

She roamed the room observing all of the paintings the young students did during the day. "How come mother won't let me leave the palace?" she frowned, touching one of the unfinished sculptures.

Solan sighed heavily. She had asked this before and his answer was always the same. Xena wanted Eve out of sight so she wouldn't be in any danger especially since she was just a child. Solan was no longer a child, he was reaching twenty one this year and he could go wherever he pleased, but Eve was still so young, so naive. "Eve you know why," he rubbed the nape of his neck apprehensively.

She folded her small arms and frowned. "But I want to go see the city of Athens. Mother doesn't allow me to go anywhere!" she pouted. "And how come I can never go with her and Gabrielle on a mission? I want to help!"

Solan smiled, a bit amused at the girl's acute irritation. "Maybe one day you can go but you're still too –"

"Too young, yeahyeah I know," Eve swept her hand dismissive of her elder brother's repetitive explanation. She threw her hands in the air out of frustration. "I am one of the best fighters here! I do really well in mother's class and I'm tall too. That should be enough, right?" she pleaded with her large blue eyes.

Her brother sighed folding his arms. "You're a great fighter!" he put his hands on her small shoulders as she peered up at his beaming face. "Maybe when mother comes back you can ask her to take you to Athens?"

Eve sighed brushing his hands off heading out of the art room. "She's never going to let me leave this place!" she growled and stormed upstairs to her room. Solan slapped his forehead and exhaled deeply, not sure what to do with this girl.

* * *

Upon entering her room she shut the door and took off her silver lined vest, throwing it on her neatly made bed. She then began taking off her leather gauntlets and threw them on the floor. Still feeling a bit heated she closed her eyes allowing herself to calm down. She sauntered over to a window and sat on the ledge, grabbing a scroll that Gabrielle gave her to practice writing. She began jotting down some thoughts she had today, including her victory of finally hitting the target. She smiled at this. Curling up she leaned back against the wall and continued writing what she did today for over an hour.

Becoming bored of writing she sighed and tossed the scroll aside, jumped off the ledge and waltzed over to the table to grab an apple. She plopped down on her bed, stomach first and took a bite of the small apple. She looked up and saw Zoe, Xena's friendly pet spider roaming around in her cage. Smiling she crawled across her large bed and opened the cage, allowing the fury spider to crawl on her arm as she continued eating the apple. Xena allowed Eve to keep Zoe in her room since she had become obsessed with the creature. She had a fascination for her since she was a toddler and when Xena was gone, Eve was the spider's babysitter, which she didn't mind at all.

Eve finished the apple and tossed the core out the window next to her bed. Smiling she grabbed Zoe and set her on the bed, staring at the fury creature. Smiling she folded her arms, "mother doesn't want me to leave the palace, you know?" she spoke to Zoe and the spider stayed still as if listening. "I want to see the world. All I'm asking is to see Athens but she doesn't want me to go!" she huffed and Zoe crawled closer to her leg and crawled on her boot.

She tapped her chin pensively as an idea popped in her head. She smiled deviously and bent down to look Zoe in her many eyes. "I'm going to Athens. I shall leave without Solan's permission," she whispered. She pointed her finger at the spider. "Don't say a word!" she commanded and Zoe crawled further on her leg up to her thigh. She smiled softly and leaned back on her pillows staring up at the painted ceiling. "Yes, that's what I'm going to do," she spoke to herself.

* * *

Xena and Gabrielle sat near a campfire outside their tent. The feud between Xena and Phraates had not lessened in the last five years. They tried a blockade but that sure didn't work and only angered the Persian king. He was beginning to think of himself as a god and Xena wanted him eradicated. Gabrielle and Xena both tried their best to keep the Roman Empire out of this feud but it was almost impossible. Deep down in Xena's heart she wanted to kill Octavius and just be rid of him, but then she'd have to deal with another cocky Roman emperor.

Gabrielle poked the fire with a stick while Xena sharpened her blade. "How long do you think Phraates is going to keep this charade up?" she brought up small talk, well in their eyes it was small. Empires are at stake here.

Xena's eyebrows rose into her thick dark bangs. "Until I kill him, I suppose," she smiled and Gabrielle shook her head at her response.

"I'm serious, Xena! He's going to run his army into the ground if we don't do something," she grunted and tossed the stick aside.

"So you're giving me permission to kill him?" Xena smirked. Gabrielle rolled her eyes and hit her palm on her forehead.

"No I'm not, but nice try," she wagged her finger at her companion and Xena shrugged her shoulder, not admitting defeat in Gabrielle's sly joke.

A moment of silence passed by and Gabrielle relaxed on her blanket and Xena abruptly stood up with her blade, her eyes began scanning the area. Gabrielle stood up and pulled out Sais from her boots and came closer to Xena. "What is it?"

Xena snarled and went to the bushes and grabbed the intruder and threw him onto the ground. The intruder looked up holding his hands up in surrender as Xena thrust the blade closer to his neck. "What are you doing sneaking around in the bushes?" she demanded in a low voice.

He clamped his hands together and stuttered, "I...I was lost. I was trying to get away from the Persian King, Phraates. Please, don't kill me!" his voice was much higher than a man's and Xena raised an eyebrow at the young man. He was wearing armor, a Persian helmet for sure and had a sword at his waist. Gabrielle stayed behind Xena, examining the young runaway soldier.

"How can we trust you? You could be a spy for Phraates," Gabrielle announced and the soldier shook his head.

"No! you don't understand! I'm no spy, I was just trying to get away. He was going to do bad things to me, horrible things!" he shouted and Xena lowered her sword. She nudged her head towards the camp and the soldier looked to the tall empress a bit puzzled as did Gabrielle.

"You can stay here until the morning. By first light, I want you gone, understand?" Xena pointed her finger at the young man and he nodded his head and stood up slowly to come sit at their campsite. He sat a fair distance from Xena. Gabrielle furrowed her brows and came to sit next to the warrior queen.

"um, you're letting him stay here?" Gabrielle whispered and Xena picked at her meat in her clay bowl with her fingers, ignoring Gabrielle. Xena's eyes went to the young soldier, eyeing him cautiously. The soldier took off his belt and set it aside, turning his back from the women once they saw their eyes gazing in his direction.

Xena smirked and turned to face Gabrielle. "He's not a he: _he_ is a she." Gabrielle's mouth gaped and she peered over at the she-soldier and saw the soft features she possessed. Her cheeks were rounded, her lips large and her nose was petite, not very manly looking though her attire said otherwise. Xena set her empty bowl on the ground and drank from her wineskin filled with water. Gabrielle scooted closer to her and shared the wineskin with her.

"Why do you think she was with Phraates? She's in armor," she whispered. Xena peered over at the young woman and frowned.

"She is in trouble. I knew girls like her," she sighed. "They would run away from home because they felt endangered. They pose as soldiers just to get by but usually...they end up as concubines _or_ dead," she took another swig and Gabrielle shook her head, feeling sorry for these girls.

Xena picked up a hunk of bread wrapped in a cloth and threw it at the girl. She trembled and looked over at Xena and Gabrielle whom seemed to be staring at her for quite some time. "You should eat something," Xena said. The girl nodded her head and slowly grabbed the bread, immediately diving in.

Awhile later Xena and Gabrielle decided to turn in for the night. Gabrielle entered the tent and began laying out the animal skins for them to sleep on. Xena was organizing their campsite to get ready to leave tomorrow morning. They had been on the road for a couple of weeks now and both were anxious to get back to Athens and soon. Xena saw the girl was still in her armor and had nothing else with her. She waltzed over to the girl with a blanket and handed it to her.

"You can sleep close to the fire to keep yourself warm," Xena said in a warm tone. The girl wannabe soldier slowly took the blanket and nodded her head. Xena turned to leave and then the girl stood up cuddling the warm blanket against her chest.

"Wait!" she called out and Xena turned around before entering the tent. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Xena smiled warmly, "would you rather I kill you?" she jested.

The girl shook her head. "I know who you are. You're the Empress of Greece," she mumbled.

Xena nodded, pursing her lips and then lowered her head slightly. "And I know who _you_ are," she smiled and entered her tent leaving the female soldier confused and bewildered.

Gabrielle was brushing dirt and sand off the animal skins when she saw Xena enter the tent and set her chakram and sword on the ground by her side of the makeshift bed. Gabrielle grinned and Xena began unlacing her blouse hastily. "You're in a good mood today."

Xena shrugged and laid down as she slipped off her boots. "What are you talking about Gabrielle? I'm always in a good mood when I'm around you," she slyly smiled causing Gabrielle to blush.

Gabrielle wagged her finger, "that's not true. A couple of days ago you were upset at me because I used your sword to chop wood for the fire."

Xena frowned, "that was different. You can't just steal my sword for...for wood chopping!" she scoffed and got comfortable on the animal skins. Gabrielle chuckled and then began weaving a string of yarn in between her fingers as she felt a bit restless. She eyed her playing with the yarn making very intricate designs and raised a brow. "Am I too boring for you?"

Gabrielle shook her head, "you're never boring, Xena. Just a little something I do when I feel –"

"Restless," Xena sighed heavily and laid back down on the ground with her hands comfortably behind her head. "I hope Solan is doing alright with Eve," she sighed. Gabrielle stopped playing with the string and laid down on her side, staring at Xena's profile.

"I think they're fine. Solan is great with Eve!" she pat Xena's arm for reassurance. "Don't worry about it." she grinned and Xena nodded her head in response.

Xena startled chuckling under her breath. "She has been asking me to take her to the inner city for months now. And every time I say no, she throws a fit," she shrugged her shoulders, unsure of what to do with her feisty daughter.

"Yeah, she definitely has your temper!" Gabrielle began laughing and Xena slowly lolled her head, glaring at her. Her laughter died down and she cleared her throat. "But also other great qualities," she tried to save herself but Xena simply rolled her eyes and turned her face away.

Gabrielle sighed, "well you know Xena, you can't keep her locked away forever. The more you do that the more she's going to rebel. Maybe you should take her to the inner city when we return?" she replied. Xena nodded, sighing heavily.

"I can't believe I am saying this but I am eager to get back home," Xena smiled.

"Me too," Gabrielle yawned.

* * *

The following morning Xena stepped out of the tent and found the girl still sleeping on the ground next to the embers from last night's fire. She kicked the girl lightly and saw her stir awake a bit frightened. "It's morning. My friend and I have to leave which means you have to leave too." Xena placed her hands on her hips.

The soldier girl stood up still in her armor and looked at Xena with pleading eyes. "Where will I go?" she asked.

Gabrielle began putting their supplies on the horses and looked back at the soldier girl. "Don't you have a home to go to?" she asked. The girl shook her head vigorously.

"No I can't go back there! I will feel so ashamed..." her head hung lowly and Xena groaned. She then grabbed the girl by the arm and lead her to the horses.

"While we're traveling through Greece we can drop you off at a nice village, how's that?" Xena smiled tightly. The girl didn't seem the argue but Xena knew she didn't like that idea, but she couldn't just tag along the entire way back to Athens either. Gabrielle mounted her horse as did Xena. The girl soldier trailed behind them as the men took down the remaining tents.

Xena peered behind to see the girl walking behind Argo at a steady pace. "What is your name?" she asked.

The girl felt her heart sink and cleared her throat. "Adam," she replied in a shy meek voice. Xena smirked and trotted alongside Gabrielle slowly. Gabrielle and Xena shared a glimpse and then Xena replied, "what is your real name?"

"Adam. I told you my name is Adam!" she replied more forcefully and Xena nodded, her smile growing wider.

"Alright, _Adam_...since you were in Phraates army, I want you to tell me everything he is plotting."

The girl's mouth gaped and she didn't utter a sound. Xena looked behind her and saw the girl's shocked expression. "come now, don't be shy. You're lucky you're still alive!" she laughed and Gabrielle rolled her eyes at Xena's humor. She was truly enjoying this too much. "I'm sure a _fine_ soldier like you has fought in many battles before. If you tell me what Phraates is plotting, I'll make sure you won't die, at least by my sword."

The girl decided to take off running in the opposite direction. Xena frowned and halted Argo, turning around she grabbed the whip hoisted on her hip and swung it at the girl, wrapping the whip around her ankles. The girl fell to the ground and groaned in agony at the blow. Xena jumped off Argo and drug the girl to her and flipped her over on her backside. She was now staring up at Xena and she breathed heavily.

"That wasn't a very wise choice," Xena grinned. The girl gulped and stared into the empress' blue piercing eyes, now very fearful of her life ending right about now.

* * *

Eve put on her best navy blue dress with a gold sash around her tiny waist. She wore her finest black sandals, laced up to her knees and her hair neatly brushed, she crept out of her room. Before she shut the door she looked to Zoe in her cage. She put her finger to her lips, "don't say anything, remember?" she smiled and left her room scurrying down the stairs as quietly as possible. It was early enough in the morning so everyone was still asleep and the sun was barely rising into the sky.

She went outside to the stables and grabbed her white horse, trying not to make any noise. She saw two guards at the gate and frowned. "This is going to be harder than I thought," she spoke to her horse. Grabbing the reins she tiptoed to the front of the palace gates out of sight from the guards. Eve knelt down and tried to figure out some sort of distraction she could put in place to make her escape. She looked behind her and saw an unlit torch and a canister full of explosive powder. Grinning deviously she lit the torch and scooped some powder into a small pouch she kept on her sash and lit the powder, throwing the pouch as far as she could.

As soon as the pouch hit the ground it blew up a few feet from the guards. Alarmed, they quickly ran to the scene and Eve smiled, hopping on her horse she galloped to the gates, opening them with a latch on the side of the palace walls. Riding outside of the palace she peered behind her and saw many other guards going to put the fire out desperately. Smiling she continued riding, not entirely sure where she was going.

She pulled out a scroll from a bag she took with her. She stole a map from her mother's office late last night and tried to pinpoint where she was. Nodding her head, sure of her map skills, she turned north and kept riding to the inner city of Athens.

* * *

After Solan had bathed and changed into fresh clothes he walked up the stairs to Eve's room. He knocked on the door. "Eve, class starts in an hour, you need to get up." He received no response and he rolled his eyes. She was probably sleeping in again he knocked on the door again. "Eve! Come on, I don't have time for this!" a few silent moments passed and growing impatient he opened the door. His eyes went to her bed and saw it was neatly made and she was nowhere in sight. The curtains gently flowed in the subtle morning breeze. He gasped and ran down the stairs to find Racha, hoping that she was with her this morning, bathing or something.

He ran and found Racha with a stack of Gabrielle's scrolls. "Racha! Is Eve with you?"

The maid shook her head. "Sorry Solan, I haven't seen her yet. Have you checked her room? She's probably sleeping still. The princess does not get up for anybody," she smiled.

Solan cursed to himself. He had lost his sister and if their mother found out about this, he knew he'd be dead. "She's not in her room!" he began pacing with his hands on his head. "She is going to kill me." His eyes grew thinking of that thought of his mother's angry face staring back at him. _She's never going to let me babysit her again._

He started to think of where she could be. She was always adventurous. He ran out to the training area, figuring she would get an early start on practicing. Once he arrived he saw the training grounds were barren and there was no Eve in sight. Groaning he went to the art room and again found nothing.

Running to the library and every other room in the palace he searched for over an hour and Eve was definitely not in the palace. He sighed, rubbing his temples _. Where could she have gone_? He then thought of something, a definite place where she would be. _The inner city_. He snapped his fingers and then head outside to the stables.

Eve's white stallion, who she named Elijah, was gone. He groaned and grabbed the next horse in line and demanded the guards to open the gates.

* * *

Eve slowed her horse and unrolled the map again, staring at it. She looked around and she was in a very large forest, the trees must have been hundreds of feet high, or she was just really small. Frowning she looked at the map once more.

"I think we are lost, Elijah," she stroked the horse's mane and sighed to herself. She looked at the map again and traced her steps like her mother taught her. They weren't too far from the palace, but far enough from the inner city it seemed. "Stupid map!" she rolled it up putting it back in her bag. Grabbing the reins of the horse they rode onwards, staying on the northern path.

An hour riding she was no longer in the forest but still no sign of people. Groaning she looked around her and she was on a grassy hill now, overlooking the water. She saw large ships ahead in the sea and she squinted her eyes, figuring that she must have been close to the port by now.

She trotted close to the shore and many men, dressed in different gear than what she was used to. They weren't wearing Xena's armor, so they couldn't be Greek. Eve furrowed her brows and stayed on the horse, looking from afar.

Some men caught a glimpse of the small girl on the white horse. One of the men smiled at her and folded his arms. "Now who is this?" one of the men said. He walked over to Eve, who seemed a bit fearful and very unsure of herself and where she was. "Are you lost?" he asked Eve.

She shook her head, refusing to speak to this man. He chuckled and whistled to his men. They came running at her and her eyes grew, suddenly feeling like she was not at the port, not at all.

"that's a nice horse you have there," he stroked the white stallion and he shook his nose, turning away from the foreign hand. The man noticed the girl's clothes were of fine quality, certainly not poor, he gathered. "you're not a farmers girl, are you?" Eve remained quiet and he smiled. He touched her dress and Eve kicked the man in his jaw as an immediate response.

He growled and yelled at his men, "get her!" the men came at her and grabbed Eve off the horse by her arms and she kicked her legs furiously.

"Let go of me!" she struggled to get free and then bit one of the men's fingers and he wailed in agony. She then kicked the other in the groin and they let go of her. She took off running on the sandy beach, breathing heavily. Her heart racing as she kept running, running as fast as she could. _Don't look back, mother said never to look back._ She kept telling herself this and her pace quickened.

The furious soldier mounted his horse and rode after Eve as fast as possible. He smiled as he saw she was slowing down as he knew that she couldn't keep that up. Eve saw the man on the horse riding next to her and she gasped, pushing herself to run even faster. He kicked the horse and rode closer and scooped Eve into his arms and she screamed an ear piercing scream. "who are you?" he yelled as the horse came to a halt. Eve huffed as she struggled to get free of his hold.

They rode back to where the other men were and he threw Eve on the ground. She groaned and looked up at all the tall men surrounding her. One soldier had Eve's bag in his hand and her eyes widened. He handed it over to the man on the horse.

He furrowed his eyebrows and looked inside, finding a locket which he threw in the sand, a quill and also a scroll. He tossed the bag aside and unrolled the map. His eyes grew as he saw this was a map of Greece and with Xena's seal on the upper right hand corner of the parchment.

"Did you steal this map from the empress, girl?" he chuckled. Eve spat at him and he frowned. He grabbed Eve by her cheeks and she grunted, grabbing onto his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"The empress will find you," Eve smiled and the man snarled. "And kill you!"

The man released his hold on the small girl and she fell to the ground, rubbing her cheeks. "you know the empress personally?" he laughed and Eve lowered her gaze. His laughter died and then took a good look at the small girl. She was rather tall, he thought she was no older than eight or nine. Her dark brunette hair swayed in the beach breeze and her eyes were a shade of ice blue –a very familiar color. He frowned. "You almost look like that witch!" he joked and all the other men laughed.

"As if that Thracian whore could have children. She would probably eat them," another man chimed in. eve was growing impatient and irritated as she listened to these men roast her mother right in front of her.

In between laughter a soldier began continuing bad mouthing Xena. "Have you seen what she does to those who betray her? Those stakes are still in Corinth."

Another soldier laughed. "She's a murdering good for nothing woman."

Eve grunted. "She doesn't kill people! She is a good person!" she yelled out in her small voice. All the men looked to her with frowns and she cowered down and began scooting away from them on the sand, attempting to run.

The man on the horse hopped off and unsheathed his scimitar and smiled, holding it close to Eve's throat. Her eyes widened and she stopped her imminent escape. "You're not going anywhere. Put the brat on the boat. Phraates will be here soon."

"What's so special about this girl?" a soldier asked.

The man smiled, "because this is Xena's daughter. Look at her, the eyes, the hair, the _attitude_ ," he snarled. Two men grabbed Eve, manhandling her body and drug her off to the boat with her struggling, grunting and yelling.


	49. Chapter 49

**AN: some shades of Najara in this chapter. Enjoy and good luck! ;)**

_Chapter 47_

Gabrielle and Xena stopped through their long journey back to Athens to make camp. Xena had Adam tied up and on the back of Argo so she wouldn't try to escape again. Gabrielle sat down on the ground and saw the female soldier sitting on a large stump with her hands and ankles tied together as well as her mouth gagged. She stood up and peered behind her to see Xena talking with one of her men and she seemed to be upset at something. Occasionally she'd glance over at the gagged girl soldier and shake her head, covering her eyes with her hands.

Gabrielle crept over discretely and took the cloth out of the girl's mouth. "I'm sorry Xena tied you up, she can be a bit...what's the word I'm looking for," she smiled nervously. "Intense!" the girl stared at her with confused eyes. Gabrielle ignored her last comment and then looked into the scared girl's eyes. "Say, what is your real name? I know you're not a man...Xena and I both know," she smiled reassuringly.

The girl looked at the empress and she was flaying her hands around, obviously angry. She was quite scared of the woman, even though she hadn't harmed her or even worse..killed her. "Tala..." she mumbled. Gabrielle grinned nodding her head.

"That's a nice name! Why do you dress like a soldier? Phraates would never allow women to enter in his army."

Tala shrugged her shoulders. "Because I wanted to leave home. I was worthless there and there were no boys in my family so I decided to disguise myself as a warrior and find someone who would hire me..." she twiddled her thumbs, feeling the rope burning her wrists. Gabrielle looked back at Xena again who was very preoccupied. She quickly decided to set this girl free from the ropes. Grabbing a dagger from her boot she held it up and Tala gasped.

"Shh!" Gabrielle hushed her putting a finger to her mouth. Tala's eyes lingered on the empress and saw her looking at them. "I'm just going to cut these ropes," she smiled and did just that freeing Tala's wrists. She exhaled softly and rubbed her aching wrists. "You have to promise not to run away. I can't save you from Xena, you're on your own if you run, got it?" Tala nodded furiously as she didn't want to upset Xena.

Xena waltzed over and saw the girl's hands were freed and she folded her arms at Gabrielle. "Gabrielle, a word?" she smiled tightly. Gabrielle stood up and they walked off to the side out of hearing range from Tala. "why did you cut her loose? What if she tries to escape again?" she spat and glared at the soldier.

Gabrielle set her hand on Xena's arm and tried to calm her sudden irate mood. "She promised she wouldn't run away," she smiled. "Xena she's just a lost girl posing as a soldier. Give her a break?"

Xena shook her head, "I don't trust her. She ran from me when I asked her to tell me about Phraates."

"She's just scared!" Gabrielle folded her arms. Xena began chuckling and sarcastically smiled. Gabrielle frowned and Xena's laughter died and a frown appeared on her lips.

"You're serious? Do you care for this girl?" Gabrielle lowered her gaze. "Oh come on!" Xena rolled her eyes. "She could be a spy."

Gabrielle huffed. "You already asked her that question and she said that she wasn't. you don't believe her do you?"

Xena smiled curtly, "oh and you do? Gabrielle sometimes I question your judgment of someone's character," her eyes went to Tala and the girl was moving her ankles, trying to scratch her calf, although failing in the process.

"Don't talk to me about character judgment Xena! You're probably the worst when it comes to that!" Gabrielle frowned as she raised her voice Xena's eyebrows lifted in her bangs, a bit surprised at her friend's temper. "You didn't even ask for her name."

"Yes I did! She lied to me!" Xena yelled and Gabrielle waved her hand leaving this conversation. "Excuse me, where are you going?" Gabrielle didn't respond and went back to Tala and cut the ropes around her ankles. She and Xena shared a glare and Xena shook her head disapprovingly. She walked over to the two younger women and snarled. "Fine but you watch yourself, Gabrielle," she whispered and went in her tent.

Tala frowned as Xena left the scene. "she doesn't like me does she?" she asked in a hushed tone.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about her she's in a mood..." she sighed forgetting about Xena for awhile. "So we're going to be here for awhile. Why don't you tell me about your family and why you left?" she smiled and Tala nodded smiling in return. She felt that she was able to open up to Gabrielle and she feared Xena.

* * *

A couple of hours went by and Xena left her tent, she was organizing her documents she wanted to present to the Roman senate, not in person of course. They were about Phraates and she wanted him out of the picture. She grabbed her bow and chakram to go hunting for food. She was feeling a bit restless and wanted to let off some of her frustration since all she wrote about was Phraates for the last few hours. She exited the tent and found Gabrielle talking with Tala, laughing, smiling and sitting very close together.

She approached the two and Tala immediately shied away from her. Gabrielle's laughter died down as she turned around and saw Xena standing in front of them wearing her full black and silver armor with a bow strapped on her back.

"I'm going to go hunting do you want to come with me Gabrielle?" she smiled and Gabrielle shook her head, declining.

"No I'll just stay here with Tala. You always like to go hunting by yourself anyway." She smiled and Xena frowned. Tala looked away from Xena's menacing gaze. The empress left the campsite and took two men with her since Gabrielle refused to go with her.

As she entered the forest Xena couldn't shake this feeling coming over her. She didn't trust that girl Talia or whatever her name was. Gabrielle actually believed her and even trusted her. Xena wanted to feel bad for the girl but she still didn't trust her. She thought she was hiding something and Gabrielle was completely oblivious to it all. So unlike her, she thought. Xena and her two men traveled into the deep forest and she grunted pulling out her bow hoping to forget any harsh feelings she had for Gabrielle at the moment.

* * *

Solan took a group of ten men with him to go the inner city of Athens to look for Eve. They had searched for hours and so far found nothing. They searched Athens in its entirety and all came back with no Eve in their arms. Solan was beginning to blame himself for not looking after his sister, but then he remembered that Eve was pretty smart, she could be off somewhere else just having a small adventure. She liked to roam around the palace a lot and get in small places to read or just to scare the living daylights out of people from time to time.

He rode on his horse far on the outskirts of the city and overlooked the Aegean Sea. It was so blue and so beautiful much like Eve's eyes. He groaned and cursed to himself. He felt absolutely horrible for losing Eve and he wanted to find her before his mother and Gabrielle returned. Xena could be very scary when something went awry but _Gabrielle_...Solan shook his head at that blonde. Gabrielle loved Eve more than anyone, possibly more than he did. Not really, but she definitely loved her a lot. She was more than Eve's aunt to her, she was her friend and anything she told Gabrielle, never got word to Xena. Gabrielle was Eve's confidant when Xena upset her or simply wanted to tell her something that she would never tell her mother.

If Solan didn't find Eve soon then he would have to deal his mother's and Gabrielle's wrath and that was never pretty. After all Gabrielle was the one who taught Eve how to read and write. Xena taught her how to use weapons and self defense just as she did with all the other girls. Everything Xena couldn't give Gabrielle did.

Solan spotted something white in the distance and he squinted his eyes. He saw a white horse and he immediately smiled feeling hopeful. Riding down the large hill he came to the beach and that horse was indeed Elijah, Eve's horse. He hopped of his steed and came to Elijah who seemed confused and lost. "What in the world was Eve doing all the way out here?" he stroked the horse and then saw something reflecting off the sunlight.

Kneeling down he picked up Eve's locket and she always kept that with her. Although she was nowhere in sight. His eyes scanned the area and he frowned, growing more frustrated at himself for allowing this to happen.

A couple of the men saw Solan on the beach and approached him. He was staring off at the blue sea all alone. The men recognized Elijah and saw that Eve was nowhere in sight. "Her horse is here but where is she?" one of the men asked.

Solan shook his head defeated. "I don't know," he peered down at the golden locket in his hand and turned to the men. "Do you think someone took her?" he asked solemnly. "I mean it's really unlike her to leave her horse. Maybe I should have broken my mother's trust and taken her to see Athens and maybe she'd still be here," he frowned and tucked the locket in his vest pocket.

The men lowered their gazes, not sure of what to say. "If anyone took her they traveled by sea."

Solan nodded, "then we gotta find her." He mounted his horse and wrapped a rope around Elijah to take him back to the palace. "We'll meet back at the palace."

"What is your plan?" one of the men asked, a bit uncertain of Solan's idea to return to the palace.

"I'm going to look though my mother's documents to see what she is up to. Maybe I'll find something there that will lead us to Eve," he sighed and rode up the hill with Elijah in tow.

* * *

Eve was kept below the deck and she was tied to one of the ship's wooden posts. She groaned as she tried to get free for a few hours now but it wasn't working. She then heard footsteps coming from upstairs and she stopped struggling to free herself and remained stoic.

Phraates, the Persian King entered the supply room and saw the small thin girl tied to the post. He stood in front of her with folded arms examining the girl. "you're a little young to be traveling all by yourself aren't you?" he smiled and Eve furrowed her brows, narrowing her blue eyes. He knelt down and grabbed her cheeks. She breathed heavily out her nostrils and stared into his dark brown kohl lined eyes. "Very pretty eyes you have. Just like your mother's," he grinned and Eve's blue eyes widened. He let go of her cheeks and stood straight.

"She did a very good job keeping you a secret," Phraates grinned. "Although Xena is known for keeping many secrets," he chuckled. He turned to his best hand man and whispered, "she is Xena's daughter? You're positive?"

The man nodded, "I'm positive! Look at her! She has the Thracian's eyes, her hair, her stature and _attitude_." He snarled at the girl and Eve frowned. This was the same man whom she encountered on the beach earlier. Her kidnapper.

The Persian King nodded feeling very pleased. He had something that Xena would die for right in the palms of his hands. "Bring her to my room," he smiled. The man nodded and untied Eve's arms from the pole and forcefully gripped her thin arms. Eve grunted and struggled to get free. She stomped on his boot and then saw a dagger on his belt. She whipped the dagger from his belt and ran to the other side of the ship. Phraates folded his arms watching this small girl take down one of his men. He smiled seeing his best commander struggling to capture the girl.

"She's definitely Xena's daughter," he chuckled watching the exchange.

Eve pointed the dagger at the man and she backed up closer to the wall. "Don't come any closer or I'll...I'll stab you!" she said and the man groaned coming at her and she dodged him running to the other side of the ship, keeping her footing as the ship swayed back and forth gently.

"This will be a lot easier if you comply little girl," the man stepped closer holding his hand out. "Hand me the dagger," he asked nicely before he was about to explode. Eve thrust the dagger closer to him refusing to obey.

Phraates came behind Eve and wrapped his arm around her small chest and held his scimitar close to her neck. "Give him the dagger," he demanded. Eve refused and he tightened his hold on her. "Do it! or...would you like something to happen to your mother?" he smiled and Eve's eyes grew in fear. She dropped the dagger and the man grabbed her instantly.

* * *

Awhile later Eve sat in Phraates' office below the ship and she had her hands neatly folded in her lap staring at the Persian King. He smiled at her and pushed the plate of Turkish delights towards her. "Go ahead, take one," Eve shook her head refusing the offer. He shrugged and set his boots on top of the desk. Eve was scanning the room and Phraates caught on. "you're not leaving this ship unless you want to swim your way back to Athens in shark infested waters," he chuckled. Eve silently cursed to herself for allowing herself to get in this mess.

Phraates leaned back in his chair, "so, has your mother mentioned me?"

"You're the Persian King," Eve spoke sternly. The king smiled nodding his head. "So she speaks!" he chided.

"And you know we're not good friends, don't you?" he playfully asked.

Eve's frown deepened. "You want my mother's empire." She then smiled deviously. "Good luck with that!"

Phraates frowned at this arrogant brat and let his boots land on the ground. He got up and circled Eve as she sat in a chair which swallowed her small frame. "Do you think your mother is a good person?"

Eve nodded her head innocently. "She doesn't kill people. She only kills people when she has to," she nodded reassuring herself. "People like you," she half smiled, teasing the king.

"Why _you_..." his voice began to rise then he caught himself and simply smiled kneeling down eye level to the small girl. "You have a big mouth." He smiled tightly. "Wouldn't you think it'd be better if we all had a giant empire and lived together in peace? Your mother would still be Empress and you...a beautiful princess," he smiled mischievously touching Eve's long dark hair.

Eve squirmed away from him and frowned. She didn't like what she was hearing and knew that he was lying –one of his best qualities. "She will come for me, you know." She said positively.

Phraates laughed and stood up walking over behind his desk. "You really think that? She'll never find you out here in the open waters. As I recall...she's looking for _me_ , right? She's not even _in_ Athens!" he laughed loudly and Eve straightened her posture, remaining blank faced.

"When she finds out that you have me...she will chop you into little pieces!" Eve yelled out and Phraates' felt his blood boiling being talked down to by a mere child. A spoiled princess, and worst of all, the spawn of Xena.

He tried his best not to let his temper get the best of him since Eve remained so calm and so sure that Xena would find her and rescue her. He tapped his fingers on the desk patiently. "Has your mother ever told you about her past? She's not a good person. She's an evil woman," he grinned as he saw the color in Eve's eyes change to a subtle darker blue. "Did she ever tell you what she did to your dear brother?"

Eve's eyes grew large. Phraates laughed nodding his head. "Oh yes princess, I know all about your brother, Solan, courtesy of the Roman Emperor." His good friend Octavius of course. "She gave him away as a babe because she didn't care about him! So what makes you think..." he twirled a sand timer in his hand. "...she cares about... _you_?" he grinned evilly and Eve shook her head lightly.

He titled the sand timer on its bottom and sand slowly trickled from the top to bottom of the glass. He pat Eve's small shoulder. "When this timer runs out we will be in Persian territory. Don't think about escaping or...well you know what will happen," he grinned and exited the room.

Eve stared at the glass sand timer and couldn't believe what Phraates told her. He knew that he was a liar and she shouldn't believe anything he said, but it still lingered in her mind. _She will come for me...she will._

* * *

Xena returned with four rabbits and Gabrielle cooked them all one by one. Tala sat on her stump eating her food quietly. Xena stared at her ignoring her food for quite some time. Gabrielle came to sit next to Xena and began eating her food quietly. She saw Xena's glare at Tala and she nudged her arm knocking her out of her gaze.

"Are you alright?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena frowned at her friend, "no Gabrielle, I'm not." Gabrielle rolled her eyes and set her bowl down in her lap.

"Xena are you still upset that I didn't go hunting with you? There's –"

Xena shook her head waving her hand dismissively. "No I'm not upset at that!" she growled. "It's that girl. Something is not right with her." She rubbed her chin in deep thought.

Gabrielle sighed loudly. "Look Xena just lay off it. There's nothing wrong with her she's just confused and didn't know where to turn to when she left home. She thought joining Phraates' army would help her toughen up."

Xena looked at her disbelievingly. "I can't believe you of all people actually are falling for that crap."

"Is this about my judgment of character again? Xena! You are just jealous." Gabrielle spooned some of the stew in her mouth and Xena gasped.

"I am not jealous! I can't believe you'd say something like that!" she tossed the bowl aside and stared at the girl. "What else did she say about her life?"

Gabrielle scoffed at her friend. "If you're so curious why don't you ask her for yourself?"

Xena grinned forcefully. "Oh no, she's _your_ friend remember?" she abruptly stood up and grabbed her sword heading off to the forest.

Gabrielle turned around, "where are you going?!" she called out.

Xena frowned and kept walking. "To chop up some wood for your _friend_ ," she sarcastically said as she twirled her sword in her wrist. Gabrielle groaned and no longer felt hungry she set the bowl of rabbit aside grumbling to herself. She caught Tala staring at her and she smiled.

"I don't want you two to fight just because of me," Tala admitted sadly.

Gabrielle shook her head dismissing the idea. "It's not about you. She's just upset at me. She seems to be getting upset at me a lot." She groaned. "You know she's been so antsy lately? She got mad at me for organizing her scrolls for her and then she blamed me for a fire that started at our campsite last week," she sighed and leaned her chin on her palm, twirling a stick in her hand.

Tala grinned and crawled over to sit next to Gabrielle. "She treats you like a little girl. You shouldn't let her treat you like that, Gabrielle!"

The blonde started giggling, "no she knows that I'm her friend. She'd never do anything to deliberately hurt me. She's probably just mad about Phraates. She's been trying to catch him for the last five years, actually longer than that," she scoffed thinking of that battle five years ago between Greece, the Roman Empire and Phraates' sad Persian army. Xena had won then which she planned on doing from the start, but she was beginning to doubt herself and become tired of fighting enemies to save her empire, Gabrielle knew this to be true, she saw it in Xena's eyes. She was tired and she was taking out her anger on Gabrielle.

Tala nodded listening to Gabrielle's words. "Friends don't treat one another like she treats you Gabrielle." She admitted and Gabrielle turned to her with furrowed eyebrows. She stared into Tala's dark eyes completely in denial of what she said but somehow there was some truth to it. Tala's hand came to rest on top of Gabrielle's and she smiled.

"I can treat you much better than Xena ever will," she scooted closer and Gabrielle leaned back away from the girl.

"What are you doing?" Gabrielle stood up abruptly and Tala stood up in almost equal height with her.

Tala shrugged her shoulders. "Just trying to be nice to you. Sorry, I won't touch you again, Gabrielle. I just wanted to make you feel comfortable around me."

Gabrielle smiled softly and sat back down with Tala following. Tala sighed, "I don't know why Xena doesn't trust me. You trust me, right? You know I'm not lying, right?" Gabrielle nodded placing a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Of course I believe you!" they shared a smile.

* * *

Later Xena and Gabrielle were back in their tent. Gabrielle was fast asleep and her little friend Tala was sleeping outside the tent. Xena didn't feel like sleeping as she felt something was wrong. She heard some rustling of boots and small footsteps. She immediately sat up and listened. Grabbing her sword she got out of bed and crept out her tent and found Tala gone.

Xena frowned and followed Tala's footsteps into the forest. She crept behind trees as she saw Tala walking as quietly as she could, trying not to make any noise. Xena's eyes lowered and she held her sword upward and kept walking about twenty feet behind her.

When Tala came to a halt Xena knelt down behind a large shrub and looked through the leaves. She saw her hand a note to a man, he was wearing identical armor to hers. Phraates' men of course. She smiled and waited for Tala to retreat back to the camp. She soon followed after with a smug smile on her lips.

Xena stood behind a tree waiting for Tala to become situated on the blanket. She crept up behind Tala and pulled her arm behind her back. Tala yelped and Xena's grip tightened. "What were you doing in those woods, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" she groaned loudly as Xena pushed her arm further up her back.

"you know! Tell me what were you doing? Or do you want to die?!" she smiled and Gabrielle exited the tent and saw Xena on top of Tala holding her down.

Gabrielle grabbed Xena's shoulder. "Xena! What are you doing?! You're hurting her!" she tried pushing her off but Xena shrugged her shoulder.

"I don't care!" Xena snarled. "Go on tell her what you were doing Tala," she grinned. She squeezed Tala's arm and gritted her teeth. "Last chance!" Gabrielle held her head in between her palms and she pushed Xena off Tala. Xena gasped and Tala rubbed her arm, rotating her aching shoulder.

Tala frowned at Xena. "I was just going for a walk." She stared up at Gabrielle and she knelt down examining her bruising arm. The blonde glared at Xena. She saw the empress stand up and brush off some dirt off her clothing.

"Gabrielle don't you ever do that again!" Xena demanded and Gabrielle stood up, coming inches away from her. Xena bowed her head having a staring contest with her friend. "You're telling me that you believe this girl over _me_?" she pointed her finger at Tala.

Gabrielle folded her arms, "maybe! She has no reason to lie to me. She's obviously just afraid of you! I mean look what you did to her arm" Xena rolled her eyes.

"Oh please," Xena unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Tala and turned her gaze back to Gabrielle who seemed fearful that she'd kill Tala right on the spot. "You can have her but I'm not traveling with you if you choose to stay with her!" she demanded.

Gabrielle and Tala looked at one another and she frowned at Xena. "Then I won't go with you." Xena's eyes widened. She seemed surprised that Gabrielle chose this lying girl over her. She had known Gabrielle for much longer and knew everything about her and this girl comes along and deceives her with her sappy stories.

Xena sheathed her sword and brushed past Gabrielle. "Fine." She gathered her belongings throwing them over Argo's saddle and mounted her hastily.

"You're leaving in the middle of the night?" Gabrielle asked, a bit shocked that she was so eager to leave.

"You want to stay with that liar then I can't stop you. Don't come crying to me when you get hurt," she clicked her tongue and took off riding in the dark. Gabrielle ran ahead and saw her friend leave her and her men followed her immediately. She huffed angrily, folding her arms.

Gabrielle grumbled to herself as she returned to the campsite. She sat down and buried her face in her hands. Tala scooted close to her and wrapped her arm around Gabrielle smiling mischievously. "Sorry Gabrielle, but if she's willing to leave you then you don't really need her do you?"

Gabrielle lifted her head and stared into Tala's eyes. Curiously she asked, "why did you go into those woods?"

Tala shrugged, "I was going for a walk like I said." Gabrielle nodded, feeling a bit like Tala was not telling the entire truth but now Xena was gone. _She actually left me_.

* * *

Solan spent all night looking through his mother's stack of parchment. He stayed awake the entire time and didn't find anything that would help him find Eve. He knew that she was on a mission trying to find Phraates' scouts and scattered army across Greece, but that's it. She didn't really to talk politics with him and especially if Eve was present, she wouldn't dare touch the subject. Politics were only for her and Gabrielle in her office.

Morning had arrived and he saw a scroll laying on one of Xena's shelves. He must have missed that one. Racha came in with a tray of tea and she set it on the desk. She peaked as he was sneakily rummaging through Xena's things. "Did you find anything?"

Solan frowned and unrolled the scroll. He read it through and the two stood in the office in silence. "I think so..." he went back to Xena's desk and set a few paper weights on the corners of the scroll. He began jotting down some notes on a separate scroll. "Phraates has men in Greece and Persia. The entire reason she went on this mission was to get rid of his army.." he tapped his chin. "But why would she do that? She must know that he's gonna go back to Persia...right?" he stared up at Racha who was obviously clueless when it came to such things.

"Racha...you sit in my mother's room sometimes right?" she nodded, affirming his accusation. "Does she ever talk about her missions with Gabrielle while you're in there?"

Racha twiddled her thumbs nervously. "Well Solan, I'm not allowed to repeat such things..." she lowered her gaze. "But if you must know then yes...I hear a lot."

Solan smiled. "Did she talk about the current mission she is on right now with Gabrielle?" Racha nodded once more. "I'm giving you permission to tell me." The maid was reluctant to repeat Xena's words. Xena may be a changed woman but she was pretty ruthless when it came to secret missions. She learned to never repeat anything after Xena especially after what she did to Callisto many years ago. "Racha, this is to help us find Eve! Just tell me, com'on?" he begged. "I'll deal with my mother, you don't have to worry about that. This is my fault anyway..." he sighed, feeling guilty.

Racha sighed heavily. "well...while I was washing Xena's hair she told Gabrielle that she was going to write a few things to present to the Roman senate about Phraates. I had to leave to grab a few towels and that's all I heard."

Solan threw his hands in the air. "Romans again? She obviously isn't thinking straight is she?" he groaned. "You didn't hear anything else?" Racha denied that she heard anything else. "If Eve was kidnapped then I am almost positive it was by Phraates or at least by some of his men..." his eyes grew and he left Xena's office. "She is probably not in Greece anymore!" he yelled out to his men to tell them everything Racha told him and that Eve might be with the Persians.

* * *

Eve was escorted off the ship with her hands tied behind her back. Phraates walked in front of her and they have now arrived at the port in his land. Eve looked around and saw that this place was nothing like Athens, nothing like her home or her mother's empire. Everything looked so different, even the people dressed differently here. Women wore long dresses and veils covering their hair. Eve looked at her own long hair, now reaching her waist, much like her mother's.

She felt like she was being stared at from all directions. After everyone was escorted off the ship they rode in caravans and on horseback to get to Phraates' palace. Eve was riding on a horse that was tied to a soldier's horse.

Not long after leaving the port they arrived at Phraates' palace. Eve's eyes grew and her mouth gaped as she saw two lion statues with wings on either side of the gate. The heavy metal bared gates opened and they rode on through. Eve saw a large fountain in the middle of the entrance and it had a giant statue of a woman holding a dove in her arms.

Phraates stepped out of the caravan and went to see Eve. He saw she was rather entranced by his home. "Nice isn't it? nothing like Athens huh?" he smirked.

Eve followed Phraates into his fortress with a guard right beside her. She wasn't foolish enough to try something here, she knew that. She was already here and far, far away from home now. Phraates' lies lingered in her mind about her mother. She knew that Xena did bad things sometimes but it was only because she wanted to protect the empire. She killed people like Phraates and she knew that she'd come for her, she was good at finding people. Eve knew that eventually her mother would rescue her.

He snapped his fingers at his servant girls. "Take her to get changed into something more suitable and then bring her to me in the throne room." Two young women came to Eve and were only wearing skirts and a cloth covering their breasts. Eve's eyes widened. She didn't want these women anywhere near her but she complied.

The two women smiled at her and gently pushed her forward leading her to a large room filled with many steaming pools of water. The women immediately stripped Eve of her dress and she gasped covering her body with her lanky arms.

Eve was gently placed in the warm water and she covered her chest with her arms, feeling a bit too exposed. The only time she ever was naked in front of someone was either in front of her mother, Gabrielle or Racha. It was so strange to have these women washing her hair and they were strangers to her. They didn't even speak the same language as her.

An hour or so later the doors to the throne room opened and Phraates straightened himself in his throne. He saw Eve enter the room wearing a white gown with a red sash around her waist and had her hair in a large bun atop of her head as well as kohl lining her big blue eyes. He smiled deviously.

"Now you look like a Persian Princess," he said and the other men stared at her as she stood in front of the room nervously. She was starting to feel a bit hopeless right about now, fearing what this king was going to do to her. He had a strange look in his eyes she noticed.

"You brought me here to play dress-up?" Eve said folding her arms with a cocky smile. Phraates frowned staring at this brat.

He laughed and the other men started laughing. She unfolded her arms and frowned, not finding this situation very funny at all. "Sure if that's what you want to call it. I'm going to make your mother an offer." He drank some wine from his chalice and Eve stared at him anxiously. "You will be betrothed to my son and she can have her silly empire in peace." Eve's mouth gaped and now she felt like she wanted to just run away and risk swimming in the shark infested waters to get back to Athens.

He snapped his fingers and a separate door opened and a boy of nine years old walked in. He wore black loose pants, sandals and a vest barely hiding his bare chest. His dark wavy hair was slicked back tightly and his eyes were heavily lined with kohl. He had green eyes and olive skin. He was rather toned for a nine year old but he still looked like a child. The Persian Prince came sauntering over and Eve looked at him a bit nervous. He smiled at her and then kissed her hand. Eve crinkled her nose and she snatched her hand away, rubbing his saliva on her white gown.

"My name is Samuel," the young prince said in a very regal tone. Eve raised an eyebrow at him and then looked at Phraates who seemed very content.

"I'm not going to marry you or anyone! I'm too...young," it donned on her that she finally she understood that her mother's words reiterated in her brain after many months, had made sense. She wanted to go on missions with her and Gabrielle and she wanted to see Athens but her mother always said she was too young. Now Eve truly understood what she meant by being too _young_ , now she was in this situation.

The young prince smiled at Eve. He was looking at her blue eyes and she frowned at him, staring elsewhere feeling uncomfortable. "Can I take her to see the gardens, father?" he asked hopeful. Phraates waved his hand and then Samuel grabbed Eve's hand which she snatched away.

"Don't touch me," she said sternly. He simply smiled and walked along and she trailed behind. She was nearly the same height as the young prince even though she was three years younger than him.

Samuel walked with the Greek Princess to the gardens and he smiled at her discontent face. "What is your name?"

She stared at him and mumbled, "Eve..."

"that's a pretty name much like yourself," he tried to be smooth with her but Eve rolled her eyes and then he grabbed her hand as they walked. She frowned creasing her brows and threw her hand aside, halting in her step.

"I said... _don't_ touch me!" she pushed him and he fell on the stone walkway and she folded her arms at him and continued walking by herself. He smirked at her and immediately got up running after her.

* * *

Xena returned to her palace and the gates opened for her. The men followed her in and all the guards looked at nervously and they were all very quiet. She was eager to get back home although she was a bit upset that Gabrielle was still with that lying girl.

She put Argo in the stables and noticed Elijah was gone. She frowned thinking that rather strange. She walked into the palace and saw Solan talking among a few of her men. She smiled coming towards him and the men dispersed bowing their heads curtly at Xena.

"Solan!" she grinned and hugged him tightly. She looked around hoping to see Eve popping out running to her like she usually did when she was gone on long missions. "Where's Eve?" she furrowed her brows.

His head hung lowly and Xena frowned at him, now becoming worried. "Solan...what's going on?" she asked nervously.

"She's...she's gone." He admitted sadly. Xena felt her blood pressure rising and she pursed her lips tightly.

"What do you mean she's _gone_?!" she yelled and began searching in every room disrupting classes and all the young children stared at her confusedly. "Eve!" she called out and Solan grabbed her arm.

"She's not here!" he firmly said and Xena balled her fists ready to hit something or someone. "She...she wanted to see the inner city and I told her no. She snuck out of the palace and we think she may have been taken by someone, possibly Phraates and his gang of men."

Xena's lip quivered and she buried her face in her hands. Solan backed away a couple of feet fearing what she might do. "How could you just let her leave?! I should have all the guards burned at the stake!" her voice echoed through the marble halls and all the children peaked around the corners of the classroom and saw the empress' temper rising by the second.

"I trusted you!" she yelled and then brushed past him bumping into his shoulder she stormed to her office. Solan rubbed his shoulder as her large shoulder bracer pierced his collar bone.

He entered her office and saw Xena throwing scrolls aside looking for a map. He noticed that Gabrielle was not with her and he frowned. "Where's Gabrielle?"

Xena didn't hear him and he repeated himself and she stopped what she was doing to look up at him. " _What_?"

"Gabrielle?" he asked once more for the third time.

Xena growled, "I left her with her new playmate," she rummaged through some more documents and pulled out a map. She grabbed a quill and drew a line from Athens to Persia, calculating with her fingers how many days it would take to reach there. It took about two days by ship to reach the Eastern lands and she immediately tossed the map aside. "Eve's been missing for days! How come you didn't do anything about it?" she marched up to Solan who now stood eye level with her.

Solan frowned, "I went looking for her! We found her horse on the outskirts of Athens by the sea. I figured that she had been taken there." He reached in his pocket and pulled out Eve's locket that was left on the beach. Xena grabbed the locket and brushed off some sand covering the locket's heart. She covered her mouth and slowed her breathing. She didn't want Eve in the hands of Phraates, she knew what he was capable of even if he was a poor king. He was just using Eve as bait and surely he knew that she'd come for her.

He placed his hand on top of hers and she clinched the locket in her palm. "We're going to find her!" he said and Xena frowned, her eyes darkening, her pupils dilating as her heart raced faster.

"Yes we are," she smiled. "and when we do I'm going to kill Phraates and have his head."

Solan followed her and called out, "what about Gabrielle? Is she coming back?"

Xena stopped and felt a sense of guilt leaving her friend with that wretched girl. Frowning she marched onward. "She made her _decision_." She ran outside and hopped on Argo telling her men the plan. Solan sighed and trailed behind her grabbing his horse.

* * *

Gabrielle rode on her horse with Tala sitting behind her. She was traveling back to Athens. She couldn't just leave Xena and felt horrible that she chose this stranger over her but Xena had acted irrationally towards the young imposter soldier. Thinking of that she grew angrier but she tried to ignore it. she was sure they'd reach Athens in half a day with the rate they're going.

"So we're _really_ going to Athens?" Tala sighed feeling slightly annoyed that Gabrielle was still too attached to Xena.

She nodded, "yes, I live there with Xena. She's just angry. She'll get over it," she smiled and continued riding through the forests.

"Right, of course." Tala sat behind Gabrielle and they rode in silence. She grinned, "Xena's daughter, she's very beautiful."

Gabrielle halted the horse and peered at Tala over her shoulder. "How do you know about her daughter?" she frowned a bit skeptical.

Tala shrugged, "I have sources," she then pushed Gabrielle off the horse and jumped off unsheathing a sword from her belt she pointed it at Gabrielle's backside. "Don't get up Gabrielle unless you want to die."

Gabrielle froze and she frowned now thinking that Xena was right all along and she didn't believe her. She felt stupid right about now. "why are you doing this?" she yelled out as her face was inches away from the dirt.

Tala smiled, "Phraates has Xena's daughter. I received word last night."

Gabrielle groaned, closing her eyes. "So Xena was right not to trust you. You were up to something last night in those woods!" she then turned around and swiped her legs knocking Tala off her feet and she landed on the dirt. Gabrielle grabbed Tala's sword and pointed it at her throat. "Give me one good reason to not kill you." She smirked.

Tala smiled at the blade's point staring at her. "Gabrielle...Xena is a tyrant and her daughter will be one too when she comes of age. Don't you want her dead? The both of them?" she grinned deviously. Gabrielle tossed the sword aside and then kicked the woman in her gut and she groaned loudly, holding her midsection with her arms.

Gabrielle then grabbed Tala's arm and twisted it until a 'crack' was heard. Tala screamed out in pain. Gabrielle smiled and then proceeded to break her other arm. "How you like that?" she stomped on Tala's shins, shattering her bones with ease. "I can't believe I actually believed you. I should've listened to Xena," she admitted shamefully.

Tala began laughing in between her harsh breaths. "But you didn't and now her daughter is gone and you slowed Xena down. It's all your fault!"

The blonde kicked the woman again and she groaned in agony. She knelt down grabbed Tala's blouse coming within inches of her face. "Tell me where Phraates has her. This is your last chance to redeem yourself."

Tala smirked, "you're a smart girl. Figure it out." Gabrielle gritted her teeth and let go of the woman and mounted her horse. "You're just going to leave me here?" she pleaded falsely.

"If I were Xena you'd be dead but don't worry I haven't spared you. The wolves will come for you later," she smugly smiled and rode off as quickly as she could back to Athens. Tala cried out, angry that her plan had not only failed but she was set out to die a slow and painful death. She'd rather be beheaded than rot here and get eaten by wolves.


	50. Chapter 50

**AN: just one more battle ;) spring break is nearing so my school work has lessened. Sorry for this two part nonsense but if I combined everything the chapter would probably be 15k words aha. Enjoy and thanks for reading everyone on this awesome journey.**

_Chapter 48 –The Fog Part I_

Gabrielle came to the palace well into the night. She did not dare to stop along the wall since she was so close yet so far at the same time. She greeted the guards and ran into the palace. She needed to tell Xena about Eve, though she figured that she already knew because Eve was absent from the palace. She loved coming home to see her smiling face running up to them both after being gone for awhile. Now the fortress was quiet and it was a rather strange feeling. All the children were asleep and some maids were cleaning the floors.

She gazed up the long staircase and sighed. She saw a light coming from Xena's room. It was so quiet that she heard the crinkling of parchment coming from Xena's room. Bracing herself she tread up the stairs and creaked the door open to see Xena writing. There were scrolls sprawled across her bed and Gabrielle entered the room. Xena's eyes lifted to see her enter the room she set down the parchment and quill.

Gabrielle smiled weakly and came closer to the bed, fidgeting her fingers behind her back. Xena folded her arms. "So let me guess, it didn't work out between you two?" she smiled smugly.

"Xena..." Gabrielle sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, I should've believed you. I thought I could help her..."

Xena unfolded her arms and saw the discontent in her friend's eyes. She scooted to the edge of the bed and squeezed Gabrielle's arms. "Gabrielle you've helped so many people! She was just using you and put a distance between us." She smiled warmly.

She shrugged, "I'm really sorry. You were right and I ignored your judgment," she hid her eyes and Xena lifted her chin staring into her blue eyes.

"I forgive you Gabrielle, we have bigger things to worry about." Gabrielle nodded, noting that Eve was on her friend's mind. Xena raised an eyebrow at her, "what did you do to Tala anyway?"

Gabrielle smiled sneakily. "I broke her limbs and left her in the woods," she nodded, quite proud of herself. Xena's eyes widened and then she began laughing.

"Gabrielle, I'm shocked," she feigned surprise and then scooted back to allow Gabrielle to share her bed with her.

"That man that Tala met with in the forest...it was one of Phraates' men, she told me that he has Eve." She saw Xena's eyes narrow and nod her head for a final reassurance. "What does he think he is going to accomplish by capturing Eve?" Gabrielle frowned shaking her head at the situation they were in.

Xena snarled. "He wants me to come to him. I don't understand how this happened!" she threw her hands in the air and Gabrielle set her hand on her knee for comfort. "Solan said she went off to explore Athens, but then he didn't know anything after that." She grunted. "She probably got lost. This is all my fault," she buried her face in her hands.

Gabrielle shook her head, "Xena stop it. This is not your fault and it's not Solan's either. Eve wanted to assert her independence. Sounds like someone I know," she smiled and Xena lifted her head up staring into her green eyes.

Xena sighed. "I should have taken her to see the inner city like she asked me to so many times, but I kept saying no. Now she is in the hands of that Persian," her lip quivered just thinking of that man.

"We're going to get her back. I'll make sure Phraates doesn't put his hands on her!" Gabrielle smiled. Xena nodded solemnly. The blonde frowned as the silence thickened between them. She then grinned and started giggling. Xena eyed her with a puzzled face. "Do you remember Eve's fourth birthday in the gardens?"

Xena smiled nodding her head. "She invited all the students."

Gabrielle's laugh became louder and she slapped her knee alarming Xena. "And –and do you remember that day she ate so much watermelon she threw up all over you!" she laughed harder and it became infectious. Xena began laughing along with her shaking her head remembering that day perfectly.

"It was a bad day to wear white," Xena smirked as Gabrielle slowed her laughter. "After that she didn't touch watermelon for a whole year." Her smile died as she kept thinking about the absence of her daughter. Gabrielle caught glimpse of Xena and immediately knew what she was thinking.

"Hey, we're going to bring her back," Gabrielle said reassuringly. "When do we leave?" she grinned deviously, anxious to barge into Phraates' fortress.

Xena frowned, "by first light which by the looks of it," she looked to the window and saw the sun rising slowly. "...is approaching quickly," she smirked.

* * *

Eve was put into a very uncomfortable outfit today. She was tired of dressing up and wished she had her black pants and blouse right about now, but no. She wore a green skirt and a skin tight top to match. Phraates' servant girls curled her long hair and put a gold headband atop of her head. She groaned as she walked through the long hallway. The pointed golden shoes were beginning to become a nuisance to her and cut into her heels as she walked. Hastily, she took off the shoes and threw them at the wall and continued onward with bare feet. Smiling she felt a lot better without those horrid shoes on her feet.

Samuel saw Eve wandering through the halls alone and noticed she was barefoot. He smiled and approached her grabbing her hand. Eve swiftly turned around with a grimace. "What did I say about the touching?" she reprimanded the young prince and he let go of her hand apologizing immediately. She kept walking and felt his presence behind her. She frowned and turned around again. "Why are you following me?"

"My father told me not to let you out of my sight," the prince said with a beaming smile. He matched Eve's attire, donned in green harem pants, gold shoes and bare chest.

"Wonderful," Eve mumbled. They tread through the long halls with her shadow following her. They came to a large room filled with pillows, ornate rugs and water pipes. She peaked in the room and Samuel blocked the entrance. She was a bit taken aback and folded her arms.

He shook his head, "we're not allowed in there. That's my father's room where he conducts business."

Eve smiled mischievously and peered over the boy's shoulder. "My mother has a room like that too!" Samuel was very persistent at blocking the way and she frowned then pushed him out of the way entering the room. The prince gasped and ran in after her. Eve picked up a chalice filled with old wine, leaning in closely she sniffed the wine and crinkled her nose.

"I told you we're not allowed in here!" Samuel yelled at her in a hushed tone. Eve turned and smiled at him, shrugging her shoulders.

"Your father has bad wine. In Athens we have much better wine," Eve said, speaking like an adult. Samuel blinked and he touched her shoulder. She immediately gritted her teeth. "Touching _again_!" he removed his hand and she smiled.

After walking around the room Eve became immediately bored with this place. She turned to leave and Samuel was thankful that she was finally leaving. "What other forbidden rooms do you have?" she inquired. Samuel raised a brow at her. He was beginning to think he was with a troublemaker and she was really strange, walking around barefoot.

He followed her as she walked through the halls nonchalantly as if she owned the place. He snickered, "you're really weird, you know?"

Eve halted and frowned at him. "Why am I weird? You're the weird one! You keep touching me!" she folded her arms and found a very peculiar room. She walked inside and it was filled with statues and scrolls. It appeared to be a library and her face beamed. "Wow this library is amazing!"

Samuel never saw a girl intrigued by a bunch of useless documents in his life. All the girls in his life were usually shy and kept to themselves but Eve was not like that. She stood on a stool and picked a random scroll out of the shelf and hopped down to sit on a chaise lounge. Samuel rubbed his neck as he saw her completely engrossed in the scroll.

"You can read Persian?" he asked curiously. Eve nodded and kept reading. "That's impressive!"

"Shh!" Eve said and he sat next to her as she read. Her eyes trailed over to him being so close to her. She scooted away a bit from him and went back to her reading. Samuel looked over her shoulder and she frowned. "Do you _mind_?" she smiled tightly.

The young prince stood up taking a few steps back from Eve to give her some space. "Don't you want to do something fun? Reading isn't fun, Eve. It's for boring scholars," he chuckled. Eve set the scroll aside and challenged his idea.

"Do you have a training room? Maybe I can beat you up since you're so bored," Eve smiled and left the library. Samuel's mouth gaped and he ran after her.

"You can't beat me up! You're a girl!" he spat and Eve felt herself become enraged at that comment. She balled her fist up and punched him square in the face, knocking him down on the ground. He touched his nose and saw blood on his fingers. "I'm bleeding!"

Eve laughed vivaciously. "Who's the girl _now_?!" she slowed her laughter and lend her hand out to help up the defeated prince. He pushed her hand away and she shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, be a baby then." She began walking off and felt a tug on her long hair and she fell on her backside. Samuel stared down at her with a smug smile. Eve growled and tumbled backwards into a standing stance.

"Very cowardly of you, attacking from behind! Just like your father!" Eve smiled seeing the prince getting upset at her roasting. Samuel almost came at her but he stopped himself while she was in a defensive stance.

He shook his head, "I'm not going to beat up a girl," he admitted, touching his still bleeding nose. He walked away and Eve frowned folding her arms, a bit disappointed that he didn't challenge her.

"I don't like you!" Eve shouted at him and Samuel turned around with a knowing smile.

"You will learn to like me, princess." He disappeared looking for a medic to help him with his nose. Eve stood in the hall and she huffed annoyed at the prince's arrogant attitude.

* * *

A couple of hours later Eve was walking through another distant hall from the last. Phraates appeared in front of her and she gasped, taking a generous step back afraid to speak. He looked at her sternly and bent down eye level to her. "You broke my son's nose!" he yelled in her face and Eve blinked.

"He pulled my hair!" she replied defensively. Phraates snarled and grabbed Eve by her arm tightly and she squealed. They rushed down the hall and he opened a door and threw Eve inside. She fell to the floor and frowned. Her eyes scanned the room and she saw Samuel in the room with her. "I'm not going to stay here with _him_!"

The Persian King grinned, "oh but you are, princess." He closed the door before Eve was about to run out. She grunted, cursing to herself. Her eyes then went to Samuel who had a bandage around his nose.

"I hate you and this place!" Eve pouted and looked out the window through the sheer curtains. The sea was so beautiful but all it reminded her of was home and that's where she wanted to be.

Samuel smirked pointing at his nose, "excuse me but you broke my nose!" he grimaced. Eve turned around and scoffed. "You deserved it," she replied with a hint of mirth in her sparkling blue eyes. She was just in this room for a few minutes and she already wanted to get away from this prince.

She groaned, "how long is he going to keep us in here?" she went to the door and pulled on the handle, but it was definitely locked and tightly too.

The prince stood up and went over to a table where a chess board was. "Until we kiss and make up I guess," he teased as he began setting up the chess pieces.

Eve turned around slowly and made a face of disgust. "If you think I'm going to kiss you then you'll have more than a broken nose!" he shook his head and she saw a chess board. Becoming curious she sauntered over to the table. "Is that chess?" she smiled.

Samuel raised a brow at her. "You know it? girls aren't allowed to play here." Eve frowned and grabbed a pillow and sat down on the opposite side of the table. He eyed her carefully and she organized the chess pieces accordingly. He was impressed that she actually knew the rules of the game.

"I'll make a deal with you," Eve bargained. "If I win then I teach you how to fight."

Samuel scoffed and his cheeks blushed at this small girl's bargain. He seemed insulted. "I can fight! What makes you think I can't?"

Eve giggled, "no offense, Samuel, but you suck," she pointed to his nose. "I mean...you got beat by a girl, what kind of prince gets beat by a girl?" she teased. The prince nodded his head in agreement and smiled moving his first chess piece. She smugly smiled and tapped her chin making her first move.

* * *

Xena came up from below the ship and saw Gabrielle practicing with her Sais in the middle of the deck. She smirked and came over to her friend. "Practicing your moves?"

Gabrielle grinned and slowed her breathing. "Yes so I can take a good swing at Phraates," she was only half joking. Xena nodded and looked over the ship's railing at the open waters. There was certainly a lot of fog surrounding them so they moved slower than she liked. They would reach the Persian lands in a day or so at the rate they were going. "It's really foggy isn't it?" she leaned against the railing alongside Xena.

Xena quirked her mouth to the side. "Yes...indeed it is," she tapped her fingers on the railing. She wasn't stupid though she came with four other ships just in case Phraates was going to attack her. She knew that he wasn't the smartest of kings she had met in her life but he had Eve and he knew that she'd do anything to get her back, which was correct. She couldn't deny that.

"I hope he hasn't put Eve in some Harem," Xena said aloud and the very thought made Gabrielle's mouth turn sour.

"Do you think he would do that?" Gabrielle would hope not. Xena wasn't quite sure what Phraates was doing with Eve, but all she knew was when she saw him she was going to kill him. First, for taking Eve, second, for trying to start another war between their empires and third, just because he needed to go. A rain drop fell on Xena's hand and she frowned.

"We need to bring the sails down," she said immediately and waved her hand at her men to take the sails down. She grabbed one of the ropes and brought down the largest sail by herself. She then ran to the wheel and turned the ship to a steadier course. Gabrielle followed and soon it began sprinkling. "Come on Gabrielle we need to get below the deck. A storm approaches," she looked at the dark skies heading towards them. "Fabulous." She grumbled.

Hours later Xena sat on a large chest filled with weapons and Gabrielle on a hammock across from her. The swaying of the ship was not helping ease her stomach. Her cheeks paled and she gripped onto a pole for dear life. Xena smiled at Gabrielle and saw she was not faring well.

"I forgot how much you hate ships," Xena grinned and Gabrielle swallowed heavily. She laid down on the hammock on her back and stared at the wooden ceiling.

"Just tell me when it's over," Gabrielle groaned and Xena chuckled at her friend's demise. She glared over at Xena. "Well I'm glad you think this is so funny."

Xena got up and patted Gabrielle's stomach. "I'm sure by morning the storm will pass. I'm going up to the deck to check on the men."

Gabrielle gasped. "By morning?! That's hours from now! Oh gods...please," she felt the need to pray right about now that she wouldn't upchuck everything she ate in the past few days right now.

* * *

By morning Xena was right the storm has passed but Gabrielle's illness had yet to subside. She came up to the deck and saw Xena standing on the railing looking through a telescope. "Are...are we close yet?" she groaned and Xena ignored her and surveyed the entire sea.

She slammed her fist on the railing. "It's still so foggy. Such strange weather," she gathered.

Gabrielle covered her mouth and then threw up over the side of the ship. Xena smirked and patted her back gently comforting her ill friend.

Mid afternoon the weather had not let up and remained much the same. Xena sat in her room and overlooked a map of Phraates' kingdom. She had asked for these plans a long time ago though she never thought she'd be able to use them. Gabrielle laid down on a sofa and closed her eyes trying to calm her queasy stomach.

Yelling was heard from the deck and Xena frowned. She hastily ran up to the deck and one of her men pointed ahead, steering the ship to the left. The other ships soon followed their lead and Xena looked through the telescope's eye and saw a large black flag staring back at her.

"Steer the ships to the left!" Xena said and ran to the top of the ship climbing up as far as she could. She could barely see with the fog in the way but there was more than one ship. There were several, pushing through the fog. Her eyes widened.

Gabrielle looked up at Xena. "What is it?!" she called out.

"That bastard!" she whistled at her men below. "Raise the sail!" they commanded and the sail unraveled exposing a giant Greek eye staring back at the Persian ships.

"Um Xena..." Gabrielle stood at the starboard and saw many ships scattered in the midst of the thick fog. "There's too many of them! We'll never make it!" she shook her head and actually feared the situation at hand.

Xena jumped down and ran to stand next to Gabrielle. "Come on Gabrielle we've been waiting for this moment," she smiled and grabbed her helm. Her famous silver helm with the giant fan shaped plume she wore five years ago was going to be put to use once again, though a bit unexpected, Xena thought not. She knew that Phraates would try something stupid like this, but she didn't expect there to be an entire army of ships.

Gabrielle ran after Xena with wide pleading eyes. "But Xena we have only five ships, he has at least twenty! Maybe more!" she saw the empress grab her sword and sheath it behind her back and clasp her black cape to her shoulder bracers. "Are you crazy?"

Xena smirked beneath her helm. It was hard to make out her expression but Gabrielle saw that look in her eyes. "Some may say that, Gabrielle!" she ran to the captain of the ship and took control of the wheel. "Tell the others to spread out and steer in reverse! Give them the signal!" she turned the ship as fast as she could.

The captain ran below the ship to the men rowing the ship and they were drenched in sweat. "Xena says to reverse the ship!" all the men stared at him disbelievingly. They began rowing the ship in reverse against the currant.

Gabrielle almost fell backwards as she felt the ship slowly going in reverse. The other Greek ships were instructed to do the same and spread far apart as well. Xena smiled as she saw the Persian ships approaching very slowly and they were retreating.

"Xena, what are we going to do? We can't go in reverse forever, they'll catch up to us," Gabrielle looked at the large Persian ships coming their way. They weren't anything like their ships, these were war ships.

Xena grinned, "you're right Gabrielle they _will_ catch up to us. I'm counting on it." Gabrielle's eyes widened, she wasn't entirely sure what she was up to. The captain came up from below the ship and Xena looked ahead to see the Persian ships stop. The fog blocked their view and Xena's smile widened. "They can't see us. Tell them to stop going in reverse and we'll head for those rocks over there," she nudged her head and saw a large mass of rocks to the left and right of the ships.

Gabrielle ran up to Xena and put her hand on her hip. "What are you thinking?"

The empress put her finger to her friend's mouth. "We're going to ram their ships with ours."

"Excuse me?" Gabrielle furrowed her eyebrows.

"Gabrielle you see, Persian ships are weak in the middle. If we time it just right...then we'll destroy the main ships in the front line."

Gabrielle sighed rubbing her temples. "And _if_ we _don't_ time it just right?"

"Don't you worry about that," Xena said with a blank face. Gabrielle's mouth gaped and she began pacing nervously. "I should have expected something like this from him," Xena shook her head and steered the ship to the left as best as she could, furiously turning the wheel, the ship slowly turned in the fog. Gabrielle didn't mind battles or fights but fighting at sea was an entirely different animal –something she wasn't quite good at, not like Xena. She had years under her belt meanwhile Gabrielle could barely manage the rocking of the ship at sea for more than a day.

* * *

The Persian general stood in the center of all the ships and could no longer see the Grecian ships. He frowned and thought that Xena was too clever to go straight on into the battle, she knew that she was going to lose. He snapped his fingers and his right hand man came running to his side.

"Do you have the Greek fire?" he asked and the man nodded. He smiled deviously, "pour it into the ocean." The man did as instructed and yelled at all the men and they pulled giant ropes beneath the ship and out came gallons of Greek fire spilling into the water.

The Persian ships began reversing just as Xena did with her ships. The general pulled out his bow and lit the arrow on fire and once they were far enough from the leakage, he shot the flaming arrow into the water. The flames engulfed the water and he grinned as he saw the fire spreading throughout the water.

* * *

Xena sniffed the air and then looked over at one of her ships and the belly of the ship caught on fire. Her eyes grew in fear and she steered the ship far to the right, changing course. Men of the men on board of the ship jumped off, burning alive once they hit the water.

Gabrielle ran to the railing and saw the entire ship burst into flames from afar. "Xena! Are you seeing this?!"

Xena groaned, "yes Gabrielle!" she continued steering the ship far away from the flames and the other remaining three ships followed her lead. She shook her head as her men jumped off of the ship, dying a slow painful death. "Such a shame." She grumbled to herself.

Gabrielle ran and grabbed Xena's bow laying near the starboard and climbed up to the top of the sails. She was able to see the head of command of the Persian ship. She squinted her left her and pulled an arrow back focusing on her target. A smile came to her lips now that her target was locked.

She released the arrow and saw she had hit the general right through his heart and he fell down, clutching his chest. She climbed back down and Xena glared at her. "I hit their commander!" she yelled in victory.

Xena pursed her lips and steered the ship as far to the right as possible. "I suppose you didn't see Phraates on that ship?" Gabrielle shook her head. "Figures." She grunted as she halted the ship's course. She waved her hand at her other ships and they steered closer to her ship.

A board was set on her ship and she walked across to the next closest ship. She went to one of her lead soldiers and pointed to the flame engulfed ship. "The Persians have Greek fire!" she grunted. "I want you all to go full force once the flames dissipate in the waters."

The commander eyed her carefully. "You want us to ram our ships in theirs?" he questioned just to make sure that's what she wanted. Xena nodded with an evil smile.

"In the middle of their ships. It's their weakest part. If you don't hit the middle then it will all be for nothing," she nodded and exited the ship heading back to her own. "On my word!" she shouted and the commander nodded his head then ran off to tell the other men and surrounding ships.

The burning ship then burst into flames and debris went flying everywhere. Xena turned around and her eyes grew, anticipating the smoke to travel in their direction she shielded her face with her cloak and went to the wheel once more.

* * *

Eve stood in victory with her hands in the air. "I win!" Samuel grimaced and pouted like the child he was. A loud explosion was heard from outside and they both looked to one another. Eve ran to the window and saw many Persian ships at sea not too far from where they were. She squinted her eyes and saw one of the ships in the distance beyond the fog. It was a Greek eye on the flag and a hand came to her mouth.

"What is it?" Samuel squinted his eyes trying to make out what was going on.

"My mother's ships!" she gasped and saw one of the ships implode and black smoke filled the air. Her heart sank as she thought in the back of her mind that her mother and Gabrielle could be on that ship. Though she knew that they were both alive and well. Eve frowned, crinkling her nose and then shoved Samuel into the wall. "Your father is trying to kill my mother!"

She ran to the door and tried to open it, banging on it as hard as she could. She huffed and kicked the door. Looking around she found a three foot long candle stick and began hitting the door. Samuel folded his arms and watched the scrawny girl try to break down the door with a silver candle stick.

"That's not going to work, you know," he said and Eve threw the candle stick aside and scanned the room for something else. She ran to the open window and stood on the ledge. His eyes grew in fear at what she was about to do. "Whoa, what are you doing?!"

Eve grabbed one of the curtains and twisted it into a long rope. "I'm leaving that's what I'm doing!" she looked down and saw it was a long way down from where they were. Her breathing was labored and she stepped down on the outside ledge, her hair wiped in front of her face as she stood at least two stories above the ground.

Samuel leaned over the ledge and held out his hand. "Are you insane?!" he called out and Eve looked up at him with a grimace. "Eve come back in here before you hurt yourself!" she shook her head and held onto the curtain. He grunted, "what are you going to do, _swim_ out to her?!" he couldn't believe this girl.

Eve looked down and her foot slipped on the ledge. She held onto the curtain for dear life and squealed. Samuel slammed his fist on the ledge and slowly put his foot on the outside ledge holding his hand out. "Eve come on don't be stupid!"

Eve growled at him, "I'm not stupid!" she teetered on the ledge and leaned against the wall. She looked at another curtain flowing in the breeze not too far from where she was and knew that was the window outside the door. She steadied herself and balanced on the ledge, trying not to look down. She scooted alongside the wall. "Just a few more steps..." she whispered to herself, closing her eyes breathing out slowly. Samuel watched her as she slowly made her way to the next open window.

After a few minutes Eve finally reached the window and death gripped the curtain, climbing onto the ledge. She peered back at Samuel with a devious smile. "Ha!" she ran inside the palace and saw the locked door where Samuel was still. She was not about to let him out as that could cause more attention than wanted.

Running down the hall she saw guards and slinked against a wall going unnoticed. She crept alongside the wall and slipped around the corner. She hummed a victory giggle and ran down the empty halls. She came to find a group of veiled women staring at her. They uttered something in their native language and Eve panicked. She began running down a separate hallway, crashing into a vase and nearly knocked over a woman carrying a basket of fruit. Her breath quickened as she ran faster down the hallway.

She looked behind her and saw two guards now running after her and suddenly she bumped into something and fell to the floor. Her eyes traveled up and saw a very large guard staring down at her. She nervously smiled and then kicked the man in his groin and crawled in between his legs, taking off once again. _Don't look back, that's the first thing mother told you! Stupid_! She reprimanded herself and looked for an exit but it seems that she was lost. This fortress was larger than she thought.

Phraates came to the door and unlocked it. he looked around and only saw his son in the room and no Eve. "Where's the princess?" he frowned. Samuel came to him and pleaded.

"She escaped out the window! I tried to tell her not to leave, father!" he got down on his knees and Phraates growled leaving the room. He snapped at his guards following his every move. "Find her!" he demanded. Samuel came out of the room, trailing behind his father he grabbed his hand.

"Father, you're not going to hurt her are you?" he said with pleading eyes.

The Persian King began laughing. "Do you like this girl? She's a monster just like her mother!" he spat and let go of his son's hold. "soon she will become an orphan!" he rounded the corner and his cape swayed behind him. Samuel frowned sadly, hanging his head lowly, feeling bad for Eve.

Eve ran out of breath and she found herself in a hallway full of rooms which she had no idea what lies in them. She was always good at hide and seek at home and perhaps she ought to use that game to her advantage. She opened one of the doors and found herself in a weapon room. A smile came to her lips and then crawled on the ground hiding behind a large shelf of weapons. "Words first, never weapons." She steadied her breathing. "just like Gabrielle said," she nodded to herself and grabbed a dagger and put it in between her teeth and crawled on the floor low to the ground.

Phraates went to his highest balcony to observe the battle at sea. He smiled and then Samuel joined him by his side. He placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "She has no idea what to do. She's just waiting there!" he began laughing and Samuel remained silent.

"Are you really going to kill Xena?" he asked and the king father frowned at his son and hit the back of his head.

"Of course I am! I have been waiting to do this for ten years!"

* * *

Gabrielle ran to the front of the ship and stood in a crouching position behind a few men, ready to attack. She looked back at Xena as she calmly looked at the calm waters. The fire had burned out by now and the remains of the ship were slowly sinking to the depths of the Mediterranean.

"Ready?" Xena smiled at Gabrielle.

She sighed, "if you are, then I guess yes..." she steadied herself on the railing of the ship, not daring to look down at the water below them. Xena narrowed her eyes and the fog thickened and the mix of black smoke was not helping. She steered the ship to the right as far as she could and nodded to her men on either side of her. Gabrielle closed her eyes, feeling her heart race faster as she felt the ship slowly moving.

Xena held up her hand and then waited a few seconds. All the men stared at her from the opposite ships and waited for her signal. She then held up two fingers and waved to the side, signaling them to move forward. The ship jolted forward and Gabrielle gripped onto the railing, fearing the worst. She was beginning to think that Xena was crazy. They only had four ships and nobody takes down an entire fleet with four ships, but apparently Xena thinks it is possible to do so.

Gabrielle looked ahead and felt the ship picking up speed as did her heart beat. She began to see the outline of a Persian ship and Xena steered the ship accordingly. She decided to stop doubting Xena and actually embrace what she was about to do, even if she didn't fully trust her.

Xena saw the Persian ship ahead at a standstill. She smiled and steered the ship, the sharp point of the ship would definitely break the weakest point of the Persian ship. She gripped onto the wheel and the silence of the sea was an ill fit for this battle. Hundreds of men were about to lose their lives because of Phraates' dumb choices and that thought would linger in her mind.

A few silent moments was all it took and Xena rammed her ship into the middle of the Persian ship. The men aboard her ship fell over onto the deck and Gabrielle held onto the railing for dear life. Her eyes grew as the front part of the ship cracked, the wood bowed and creaked as it continued diving into the Persian ship.

The Persian battle ship began breaking in half and the lower half began slowly sinking in the water. All the soldiers aboard scattered and Xena's men ran and jumped onto their ship in full force. Xena saw the other ships had crashed into the front line, crushing three other ships into one another creating a domino effect.

Xena jumped off the top deck and held up her sword. "Kill them all!" she shouted and Gabrielle looked back at her and saw fire in her eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows and jumped onto the Persian ship, immediately attacking soldiers. Some Persians came aboard Xena's ship and Xena swung her blade around slicing two men in half. Blood splattered all over her helm and she gritted her teeth. Her eyes went to Gabrielle and saw her taking out as many men that came in her path.

She saw a man with a spear come behind Gabrielle as she was occupied. Xena thrust her sword in an oncoming soldier and she kicked his body to the ground. "Gabrielle!" she yelled out and Gabrielle turned around to see a man behind her with a spear. Her eyes grew in fear and she ducked, sticking her Sais in his abdomen. Xena smiled at her and then jumped onto the ship back to back with her companion.

"I told you it would work," Xena grunted as she fought back some Persians coming her way. Gabrielle smirked and kicked another to the ground.

"I'll never doubt you again!" she took out a dagger from her boot and threw it at a Persian and blinded him immediately. The ship began sinking and she panicked. Grabbing onto one of the sails she swung over to the next ship. Xena remained on the sinking ship throwing men overboard if they came her way.

Gabrielle fought off four men and climbed to the top deck and saw Xena struggling to fight off six or more men coming her way. "Xena!" she yelled out but she didn't hear her. She saw the ship sinking rapidly and Xena growled, releasing a loud way cry and fought off as many men coming her way.

A blade sliced Xena's arm and she winced in pain then her eyes narrowed at the guilty Persian. She smiled and thrust her blade into his chest and tossed him to the side. His body slowly slid off the side of the ship and into the crashing waves. The ship creaked and her half of the ship broke off sinking into the water. Gabrielle's eyes widened and she ran to the edge of the ship, the impending battle behind her seemed not to matter any longer. " _Xena_!"

* * *

Xena held her breath as her armor became heavy she was sinking along with the fallen soldiers and ship debris floating alongside her. She detached her heavy cape and it sank behind her. She desperately began swimming to the top of the water and felt a hand grab her leg. She looked behind her and saw a wounded Persian pulling her under. She grunted and kicked the man in the face with her boot and he did not resist instead he persisted and grabbed her thigh pulling her deeper into the water.

Running out of air she frantically squirmed in the man's hold and he grabbed her shoulder pulling her deeper into the dark sea. She lost grip of her sword and it too sank into the darkness beneath the little light they had. She grabbed his shoulders and head butted him with her helm. Finally losing consciousness he let go and he sank to the bottom of the sea floor. Xena felt her lungs filling with water and she swam as fast as her heavy armor would allow her to.

As she continued to swim she saw an arrow shoot past her cheek and her eyes widened. Many Persian men above on an opposite ship were shooting arrows into the water as they saw her fall, knowing she'd be alive. Xena swam to the belly of the ship where Gabrielle was, hoping to seek shelter and reach air.

More arrows shot past her and she dodged them as best as possible as she clung to the ship. An arrow pierced her shoulder and she gasped in the water, allowing what little air she had left in her. She grabbed the arrow and broke it off and swam to the opposite side of the ship and lifted out of the water. Gasping for air she coughed up some water and grabbed onto a rope, trying to climb on the side of the ship. Her shoulder now bleeding profusely.

Gabrielle felt her eyes swell with tears as she never saw Xena come up out of the water. A Persian came at her and she growled, grabbing a spear and pierced his heart. Her heart began racing and she heard a thud from the front of the ship and saw Xena, soaking wet and bleeding. Her heart sank and she raced over to her friend, kneeling down beside her she took off Xena's helmet and examined her shoulder.

"I thought you were dead!" she smiled and Xena smiled up at her, breathing heavily.

"I thought we agreed that I'd tell you when I was going to die?" Xena joked and Gabrielle shook her head with a weak grin. Xena saw tears in Gabrielle's eyes. "Don't cry. The battle is not over yet..." she winked.

Gabrielle helped her up and wrapped her arm around her body for support. "If I had a dinar for every time you got hit by an arrow I'd be rich by now," it was Gabrielle's turn to make a joke and Xena smiled clutching her ribcage, wincing. She removed her hand and saw blood seeping from her ribs. She groaned and Gabrielle frowned.

A Persian came towards them and Xena grabbed the nearest weapon and sliced his neck with ease, gritting her teeth, then doubling over at the immense pain in her shoulder.

"I don't have time for this!" Xena said and marched forward without Gabrielle and waved her hand at one of the commanders on her ship. She hopped onto a deserted Persian battle ship and Gabrielle jumped onboard as well.

"I need..." she tightened her lips and took hold of the wheel steering the ship around while the men remained fighting each other. "Must find Eve," that was the most important thing to her, despite her wound and this ridiculous impromptu battle.

She quickly forgot the pain and remained on the mission at hand that was to find and rescue Eve from Phraates. Gabrielle wrapped her arm around Xena and saw the blood seeping from her wounds.

"you're hurt Xena. Let one of the men take the wheel." She persisted but she wasn't getting through to her. "Xena!" she pulled her aside gently. "What good are you to Eve if you are injured?" she saw a change in Xena's eyes and her eyebrows creased, cringing from the agonizing pain in her shoulder and ribs.


	51. Chapter 51

_Chapter 49 –The Fog Part II_

More of Xena's men climbed aboard on the abandoned Persian battle ship with her and Gabrielle. One of the men steered the ship towards land while others shot arrows at the Persians on their neighboring ships. Gabrielle crouched down beside Xena and then stood up, shooting another archer on another ship nearby. Her eyes widened as she saw a spear flying towards her. She ducked on the deck, covering her head and Xena gritted her teeth as she sewed her own shoulder wound.

Gabrielle looked to her friend and frowned. "What are you doing? I can help you!" she groaned and then a Persian jumped onto the ship and she hastily grabbed her Sais and stabbed him in the leg and stomach then threw him overboard. Xena smirked and bit the thick thread tying it into a knot.

"You have your hands full Gabrielle. I can handle a small wound," she touched her ribs and saw more blood seeping through her armor. Gabrielle shook her head and touched her friend's shoulder gently.

"I'm not going to leave you here by yourself!" she yelled through the loud battle surrounding them both. Xena smiled warmly and then took off her heavy armor throwing it aside. Now just in her black long sleeved blouse she saw it was soaked with her own blood. Gabrielle untied Xena's blouse and realized that this was simply not going to do. Quickly without thinking, she ripped off Xena's blouse exposing her entire torso, only wearing a beige bandeau across her breasts.

Xena's eyes widened, feeling a bit too exposed especially with everyone around her. Gabrielle frowned and ripped Xena's blouse to pieces with her teeth and wrapped it around Xena's waist tightly. Xena winced and once she finished tying the black blouse around her she smiled.

"Don't move from this spot! I'm going to aid the men," she pointed behind her and ran off. She peered back at her friend and reprimanded her. "Stay!" she demanded and Xena rolled her eyes, feeling more than helpless.

She ran and stood on the highest part of the deck and shot as many arrows alongside the other archers on opposite ships. Her eyes scanned the sea and there was just too many ships to take them all out. All the Greek ships were destroyed, they were only able to take out four battle ships, but there were at least twenty more. Unless she came up with a brilliant plan they were going to be on this ship forever. Even the lead commander in Xena's army was having trouble steering the ship as the other Persian ships were forming a circle around them, preventing them from reaching Phraates' kingdom on the coast.

Gabrielle squinted her eyes and that fortress of his was definitely visible from this distance, but they were still far away, far enough to die or possibly sink to the bottom of the Mediterranean.

* * *

Xena eyed Gabrielle and she quietly scooted to a staircase leading to the belly of the ship. Slowly standing up she clutched her side, watching her blonde warrior friend busy at work. She tread carefully down the stairs. She sniffed the area and smelled that Greek fire that they used. Limping over to a few barrels she touched the black tar with her fingers and smelled it, smiling knowingly. There was still quite a few barrels of the oil-like substance. She took a few more steps and heard a loud crunch beneath her boot.

Frowning she knelt down and saw a broken black bottle and a powder all over the wooden flooring. She touched the powder in between her fingers. She smirked, "explosive powder," she stood up straight and kept walking to find more of this powder. She opened a door and found a room full of the powder. Her eyes lit up and her smile widened. That Persian King had many explosives on each ship but since her own ships were no longer in use, the Persians were not going to use the explosives on their own ships. It would be too risky especially since this was now her ship technically and it was one of their own.

She heard grunting from below and saw another staircase leading to the men rowing the ship, keeping it afloat. She jumped off the last step and all the men's mouths gaped at the sight of her. She thought that she might look a bit crazy. Damp wild hair, half clothed and wounded. She smiled deviously at them all.

"Hello boys," she smirked and walked to the first row of men. "I need some volunteers."

* * *

Gabrielle looked behind her and saw Xena was no longer in her spot. She frantically ran around the deck looking for her but heard some crashing noises down below. Furrowing her eyebrows she ran down the stairs and saw Xena commanding men to move barrels and boxes around to the either side of the ship walls. "Xena, what's going on?"

Xena smiled, "we're going to have a party!" her eyes grew wide and wild. Gabrielle eyed her cautiously and the men began pushing large barrels around. Xena carefully walked around the men dodging them as they continued moving boxes around. Gabrielle stopped one of the men and picked up a black bottle from the box. Opening it she smelled the powder and coughed, cringing at the foul stench.

"What in Hades is this?" Gabrielle put the cork back in the bottle and Xena sauntered over taking the bottle from her.

"Do you want a demonstration?" Xena winked and she poured tipped the bottle over onto the floor. A few grains was all she needed. She grabbed an unlit torch and dipped it in oil igniting it. "You might want to stand back." Gabrielle took a generous step back a bit afraid of what she was going to do. Xena slowly lowered the lit torch and then a soft but obvious explosion occurred once she ignited the powder. Gabrielle yelped and she backed up against the stairs, fumbling on her own feet.

Xena laughed and wafted the smoke out of her face and peered down at a dinar sized hole in the floor. Gabrielle snatched the torch from Xena and dipped it in the water barrel next to the stairs. "Are you trying to blow us up?" she said irately.

Xena set her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders, shaking her lightly. "No Gabrielle! We're going to blow up the Persian ships!" her smile widened deviously. "All the ships have this stuff aboard. It's lethal! Instantaneous death!"

Gabrielle blinked, a bit stunned at her behavior. "Boy, you really love to make a battle interesting don't you?" she smiled. Xena nodded her head, gladly taking the back handed compliment. "So what's the plan?" her lips quirked to the side as she saw the twinkle in Xena's eyes.

* * *

Xena told her men what the plan was and they nodded. She dodged an arrow and growled, picking up a spear and threw it at the archer on the other boat. He wailed in agony and fell over in the ocean. She smirked and Gabrielle ran to her.

"Okay they're all in position," she nodded and Xena curtly nodded and limped over to the side of the ship eyeing the surrounding Persian ships as they began circling away from her. She memorized where the explosives were in each ship and would point to the exact location and her archers would shoot flaming arrows at the ships. The men that reluctantly aided her in gathering the oil and powder would throw the bottles at the ship on her command.

Gabrielle nudged Xena's arm. "I found this for you to wear in the meantime." She handed her a Persian tight long sleeved leather studded top. Xena's eyebrow raised as she looked at the hideous black top. "It was all I could find." Gabrielle shrugged. Xena sighed and put the leather top on and laced the front as tight as she could.

Xena looked ahead and saw the fortress ahead. She was so close and yet so far at the same time. _I'm coming for you, Eve._

"Fire!" Gabrielle commanded the archers and she too shot an arrow at the ship beside them. Archers were lined on both sides of the ships. The powder was then thrown onto the ships and the belly of the ships instantly caught fire. The Persians began to panic and ran back and forth, some jumping to their deaths into the sea.

"again!" Xena yelled out and the task was repeated until the two ships beside them were engulfed in flames. She ran to the wheel and turned the ship around so they were out of the way of the flames. The ship pushed forward slowly as half of the men below were rowing as best and as fast as they could. She looked to the Persians and they began shooting arrows at her, she ducked and snarled.

Gabrielle looked to Xena and she nodded giving her the signal. She called out, "now!" the men poured the oil into the waters and once Xena steered the ship far enough, Xena's men and Gabrielle shot flaming arrows into the water and it completely engulfed the other three surrounding ships.

Xena smiled and the men screamed in victory seeing now six burning ships behind them. Gabrielle and Xena shared a knowing smile and Xena winked at her continuing the steer the ship towards land. The remaining ships were now stuck but some were heading towards them, though not near as fast enough.

Gabrielle ran to Xena and hugged her tightly. The empress winced as her wound in her torso was still fresh. Gabrielle stepped back, feeling a bit guilty and instead resorted to a pat on her shoulder. "That was incredible! Best fight yet!" she grinned.

Xena shook her head smiling at Gabrielle's excitement seeing burning ships. She really needed to get out more, she thought. "These ships are useless. They're big and slow, much like Phraates' men," she smirked.

"Well those big and slow ships are coming towards us," Gabrielle gathered as she saw the ships nearing many yards behind them.

"Let them come," Xena's eyes narrowed and steered the ship to the left.

* * *

Phraates overlooked the battle at sea from his balcony and he saw a third of his fleet burst into flames. He growled and threw down his chalice of wine. Samuel winced at his father's anger. The young prince stood up and saw many Persian ships sinking. He could almost hear the crackling sound of the embers burning the wood from afar.

"She better be dead before she reaches land!" Phraates frowned and Samuel sighed heavily, not really liking the idea of killing others for the sake of power. He was not like his father or like his elder brothers. His brothers had been brought up in war and they were trained soldiers, but he was not like them. He didn't want to fight. The thought of dying was too much to handle.

Samuel slipped out of the balcony as Eve was on his mind. She was a smart girl and managed to escape the room, very dangerously he might add. He ran through the halls passing many guards. He saw his father's men searching every room looking for the Greek princess. Running through an empty hall he quietly called out Eve's name, hoping that she'd answer.

He entered one room and searched inadequately, and found nothing. Cursing to himself he opened the weaponry room and looked around the dark room. "Eve!" he whispered.

Eve was hunkered down underneath a rack of weapons and saw Samuel's sandals as he tread around the room. He appeared to be alone but she did not trust anyone in this palace even if the prince was kind. She shifted beneath the rack and a giant spear fell to the floor. She saw Samuel's sandals halt and he turned around examining the area.

He picked up the spear and furrowed his brows. He pushed the rack aside and found Eve hiding beneath it. "Eve!" he dropped the weapon and she stood up taking the dagger out of her mouth pointing it at his chest. His eyes widened and he held up his hands in defense.

"Stay away from me! Your father wants to kill me and my family!" she frowned and stepped closer. Samuel took a step back, fearing this scrawny girl coming at him with a dagger.

"Eve, I am not my father...I won't kill you. Don't you trust me?" he pleaded with a sad smile.

A few guards ran into the weaponry room and Eve gasped. She ran and hid behind a shelf of shields. Samuel looked to her then at the guards with a bemused face. "Have you seen the princess?" one of them asked.

Samuel looked to Eve and she held her finger to her lips. Her pleading eyes staring back at him. He frowned and stared back at the guards. He shook his head. "No...she's not here." The guards seemed skeptical but took the prince's words to be true. They scanned the room and then left running down the hall to inspect the other rooms.

Eve let out a sigh of relief. "You didn't tell them I was here..." she said quietly. "Why?"

The Persian prince shrugged his shoulder, rubbing the back of his head embarrassingly. "Told you, you could trust me." A moment of silence passed between them. "I know a way for you to escape without being caught." He said and she eyed him skeptically. He held out his hand and smiled slyly. "You trust me?"

Eve stared at his hand longer than anticipated but she had nothing to lose and he already saved her thus far. She smiled taking hold of his hand and they left the weaponry room. Samuel looked down the halls for guards and they slinked by going into a separate hallway.

Samuel lead Eve down a long spiral staircase barely visible. Eve looked at all the surroundings and frowned snatching her hand away from the young prince's. "You brought us to the cisterns?" she was outraged and Samuel shrugged his shoulders embarrassingly, his cheeks blushed.

"Well would it be better if I told on you?" he smirked. Eve grumbled and walked ahead of him. "Hey! Shouldn't I lead the way? It is my house after all," he winked. Eve smiled curtly nodding her head bowing her head sarcastically.

"Fine. It is _your_ house," she still gripped onto the dagger as he marched forward rounding a corner. She followed him hoping that his lead would not get her killed or him in the process. His father was after her not Samuel and if he was seen trying to help her escape she feared what Phraates might do to him.

They rounded several corners and if she had tried to navigate this place she'd surely be lost without Samuel by her side. Eve pursed her lips and she grabbed Samuel's hand. "I wish you could come to Athens."

Samuel smiled warmly and stepped over onto a pillar and Eve followed. "I don't think my father would allow it."

"I know," she mumbled sadly. "My mother has a school at the palace. Children from all over come to learn."

The young prince jumped over onto the ledge in between the muddy waters. He held out his hands and grabbed Eve's small waist lifting her over to the ledge with ease. "Even Persian kids?" he smirked as they hastily walked down the narrow path against the wall.

Eve nodded, "oh yeah! Not many though. There's two girls from Carthage. I think you would like them."

Samuel smiled mischievously and peered over his shoulder. Eve was obviously very aware of her surroundings, which he thought was a great skill especially for someone her age. And not to mention her vocabulary was to be admired. She was very smart, he knew that from the moment he laid eyes on the young princess.

He laughed humbly and Eve frowned. "What's so funny?" she asked a bit annoyed.

"you said there's girls from Carthage at your mother's school," Eve nodded. "Are they as pretty and as smart as you?" he smugly smiled. Eve's mouth gaped and she suddenly became speechless.

She furrowed her brows and remained on the task at hand. "Where is the exit? We've been walking for a long time." The young prince simply smiled warmly at her and nudged his head to a separate pathway.

They reached a barred door and Samuel opened it with a key he had in his pocket. Eve eyed him carefully but they marched through the dry pathway. Finally no waters surrounding them, she was thankful. Suddenly a group of men entered through the forks of the tunnel and Eve gasped backing away. Samuel stood behind her looking at all the Persian guards.

"Very good your majesty," one of the lead guards whom Eve had already met on the beach. They circled around Eve and Samuel. Eve turned to Samuel with pleading swollen eyes.

"You! This was _your_ doing?!" she pushed him and he fumbled backwards. "I trusted you!" she yelled at him and he shook his head, just as surprised as she was.

Two guards grabbed Eve by the arms and she dropped the dagger looking back at Samuel, red in the face. "I trusted you!"

The Persian prince shook his head vehemently. "I didn't do it Eve! I didn't do it, I swear!" he called out and heard her struggles as she was carried off by the guards towards the cistern's exit.

Malak, Phraates' grand vizier stepped forward towering over the young prince. "Your father is not going to be pleased with you if he finds out you tried to help the Greek Princess escape, now is he?"

Samuel grimaced, "I know a lot of secrets about you Malak! Like you were seeing one of my father's wives behind his back and you killed one of his best men and blamed it on the cook! And had him executed too!"

Malak grabbed the boy by his throat and Samuel choked, gasping for air. "Listen here boy! Your father won't believe anything that comes out of your mouth! You put your family to shame!" he let go of the young boy and he fell down grasping his neck as he coughed violently. "Senin and Farnaz are much better sons to Phraates than you will ever be," he walked off picking his teeth with the point of his dagger.

Samuel slammed his fist on the ground. The mention of his elder brothers was enough to get him heated. He wanted to save Eve and now she was to be put back in his father's custody. He failed. His head hung lowly as he thought of his failures as a person, as a son and as a friend.

* * *

Xena steered the ship as close to the coast as she possibly could. She looked behind her and saw the other ships approaching quickly. She didn't have a lot of time and grabbed Gabrielle's hand heading to the railing of the ship. She touched her hip making sure her chakram was where it was supposed to be. Gabrielle looked down at the calm waters below and her eyes widened.

"You know how to swim right?" Xena smiled and Gabrielle peered up at her friend.

"Oh Xena I don't know if this is such a good –" before she could finish Xena jumped off the railing with Gabrielle in tow. She yelped and they both dove into the water.

Xena reached the surface and Gabrielle gasped as she spit some water out. "That's it, now I'm sure that you're insane!" she yelled and Xena smirked. She whistled up at her men to jump in the water to swim to shore. The rest of the Persians weren't likely to follow them if they swam the rest of the way which wasn't very far by all means.

Gabrielle saw Xena swimming underneath the water. Even with her wounds she was not going to ignore the fact that she was going to lose. Losing was not in Xena's vocabulary. She could be bleeding from all orifices and still she would keep going until her death. Gabrielle placed the dagger in her mouth and dove under the water to follow Xena. She swam beside her friend and a smile came to her lips. Xena's bright smile lit up as she swam faster, ignoring the agonizing pain in her shoulder.

Once they reached the shore Xena rose out of the water with a menacing smile staring at all the Persian soldiers waiting for her and very well armed. Xena's men came in after her. She now only had about fifty men left and before she had at least two hundred, which wasn't much considering the amount of Persians Phraates had on those ships.

The front line of archers drew their bows and Xena grabbed her chakram throwing it at the front line, breaking all their bows in one straight shot. The archers gasped and retreated back to get more suitable weapons.

A group of men came charging at Gabrielle and Xena. Gabrielle kicked down three men by grabbing hold of their own javelins. Xena sliced one of the men's throats with her chakram and head butted another one, knocking him to the ground. "You must do better than that," Xena smiled and Gabrielle smirked, shaking her head.

They both ran past the soldiers leaving them to Xena's men. They were rather eager to fight on land, as they were trained to do so. Xena saw the large palace gates and Gabrielle halted staring up at the large gate. "I'm sure Phraates has this placed guarded very well," Gabrielle huffed and looked around. Xena was scanning the walls and smirked. "I take it you're not going to take the easy route?" she saw what she was thinking.

"You catch on quickly, Gabrielle." She hunkered down getting ready to jump over the gate. "I'm going to get inside and open the gate and create a diversion!" Gabrielle nodded, completely ready for the plan. She looked behind her and saw many Persian soldiers heading her way. "Once I open the gate you run in and find Eve!" Xena flipped upward and steadied herself on the stone ledge, smiling back at Gabrielle. She hopped down looking for the lever to open the gate.

Gabrielle's eyes widened and she took out her Sais using the handles to attack them. She peered back at Xena through the bared gate. "Anytime would be great, Xena!" she grumbled as she knocked down two soldiers at once with her Sais.

A bunch of Persian guards came running towards Xena and she cursed to herself. She was leaving Gabrielle outside the gates by herself. She drew a sword she found on the ship and stuck it in a Persian's heart. She leaned up against the gate and Gabrielle did the same on the opposite side. "This is not part of the plan!" Gabrielle grumbled as she defended herself against a bunch of the Persians.

"Patience Gabrielle," Xena smiled and kneed a man in the face and then she grabbed him by the hair and hit his head on the gate's lever and it slowly opened. Xena smiled nodding her head and growled, kicking another guard to the ground. "Go!" she pushed Gabrielle and saw she was not leaving her. Xena gritted her teeth and more men surrounded her. " _Go_!" she reprimanded. Gabrielle sighed and ran into the palace.

* * *

Upon entering the palace Gabrielle immediately saw Phraates' guards standing by not allowing her to pass. Gabrielle frowned, "where is the king?"

"He's busy at the moment." One of the men said with a smug smile. Gabrielle laughed in a hushed tone and kicked one of the men in his groin and the other she took the javelin and knocked him off his feet, hitting his head on the marble floor. Stepping over the two she looked around for a throne room. She had never been in Phraates' palace but she had idea how it was constructed.

Rounding the corner he found Phraates sitting on his throne and his eyes lit up at the sight of her. "Gabrielle! What a lovely surprise!" he forcefully smiled.

"Where's Eve?" she took a step closer and a few guards blocked her path. She rolled her eyes. "Don't make this difficult Phraates. Hand over Eve before Xena gets here."

The Persian King frowned as he heard the Grecian woman's name. he hated Xena and what he hated even more was that she was alive.

"Yes she's alive," Gabrielle smirked. "Let's make this simple. Hand over Eve and I won't kill you."

Phraates began laughing. "Right. You kill me? I'd rather have Xena kill me!"

Gabrielle chuckled. "Oh she will don't worry about that," she saw the mirth in the king's eyes disappear. She pulled out a pouch off her belt and sauntered over to the guards. "You want to know what's in this pouch?" she teased. She opened it carefully and the room fell silent. She pinched a few grains of black powder in her hands and the guards' eyes widened. "Oh that's right, explosive powder."

Phraates' scowled. "Get her!" he commanded and Gabrielle grabbed a torch off the wall and held the pouch very close to the flame. The guards hesitated and she inched it closer to the pouch with a devious smile.

"Come closer, I dare you!" Gabrielle said and the guards growled. She threw the torch on the ground and ran throwing the pouch in the flames and a loud explosion was heard just moments later. She fell to the ground and put her hands on her head. A large hole was created from the explosion and a large marble pillar fell on top of a few guards.

Gabrielle snarled and saw Phraates trying to escape in the black fog of smoke. She grabbed him and kicked him to the ground. She was on top of him with one of her Sais pointed at the back of his neck. "Tell me where Eve is or I won't wait for Xena to get here!" she spat. Phraates felt the tip of the blade against his neck and he put his hands up surrendering.

"She...she's in the cellar below on the third floor!" he yelled and Gabrielle let off him. She kicked the Persian in the spine and he grunted face planting into the marble floor.

Gabrielle ran down the hall and she had no idea where she was going. A young boy was at the end of the hall playing with a ball throwing it against the wall. Samuel caught glimpse of her and he ran towards her. She took a step back a bit unsure of this boy. He looked like a young Phraates.

"Are you Xena?" he asked with a smile.

Gabrielle smiled shaking her head. "No I'm not. My name is Gabrielle."

Samuel's smile widened. "You're here to save Eve aren't you?!" he became excited and he ran down the hall. "I can show you the way!" Gabrielle's eyebrow lifted but she didn't want to ask any questions. She followed the young boy down a series of stairs and he pointed to the cellar below. "She's down here," he whispered. "there's three guards down there."

"Only three? Must be my lucky day," Gabrielle shook her head and went down the stairs and knocked out two of the guards with the handles of her Sais and head butted the other guard coming towards her. She shrugged, "not much of guards are they?"

She looked and saw Eve in a cell by herself, curled up in a ball. "Eve!" she smiled and Eve recognized that voice. She stood and ran to the bared door with a beaming smile.

"Gabrielle!" Gabrielle unlocked the cell door with one of the keys hanging off the guard's belt. Eve ran forward and embraced Gabrielle as tightly as she could. Gabrielle smiled warmly and squeezed her. "I knew you and mother would come for me!" she beamed and Gabrielle's smile widened she released from the embrace and kissed Eve's cheek.

Gabrielle stood up and Eve hung closely to her leg, hugging her waist. "This boy helped me find you," she pointed to Samuel and Eve frowned at him.

"It's all his fault that I am in here in the first place!" she spat at him. Gabrielle eyed her and then to Samuel.

The young prince shook his head, "no Eve! I swear I didn't know they were following us! I just wanted to help you. I'm really sorry..." he mumbled.

Gabrielle knelt down in front of Eve and brushed a tendril behind her ear. "He tried to save you before?" Eve nodded her head.

"I got captured and taken down here because of...him!" she scowled at him. Samuel rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"Eve, I don't think he was trying to get you in trouble again if he helped me find you, right?" Gabrielle said and the young princess sighed heavily, attempting to roll her eyes slightly.

Eve went to Samuel and he ignored her. She tapped her foot and twiddled her thumbs behind her back. "Samuel I..." he turned to listen to her and her cheeks flushed. "I'm...sorry," she grumbled. The young prince beamed and he kissed her cheek. Eve gasped and touched her cheek. Gabrielle stifled a laugh at the two's exchange. Samuel then grabbed Eve for a tight embrace and she growled.

"Touching!" she squirmed and he squeezed her tighter. "Samuel!" she pushed him away and he smiled smugly. "you must work on that!" she wagged her finger at him and ran up the stairs out of the cellar. Gabrielle smiled and ran behind her with Samuel following.

* * *

Xena entered the throne room with soot on her face and blood splattered on the leather outfit she wore. She spat blood on the marble floor and saw Phraates speaking with his vizier. She walked over to the man and his eyes widened.

She smiled holding the sword out towards him as she stepped closer. "You have something that belongs to me, Phraates." She cracked her neck and Phraates drew his scimitar facing her.

"I told your little blonde friend where Eve is!" he pleaded and furrowed his brows.

Xena chuckled, "that must be your good deed of the year."

Eve ran into the throne room and saw her mother holding a sword and Phraates in a defensive stance. "Mother!" she called out and Xena wiped her head around and saw Eve was unharmed and with Gabrielle. As her daughter distracted her Phraates cut Xena's thigh with his sword and she winced. Eve gasped, " _Mother_!" she ran forward and Gabrielle pulled her back.

"Get them!" Phraates said and a swarm of Persian soldiers came charging at Gabrielle and Eve. Gabrielle pushed Eve behind her and wiped out her Sais blade first this time. Xena looked back at the king and scowled. She danced around him twirling her sword with a menacing smile.

She pushed the blade down on his and he head butted her and she knocked back. "Your daughter is very much like...you. She is beautiful. Those eyes...that hair. Too bad she has your horrible attitude!" he grimaced and thrust the sword at the empress and she blocked it easily.

"That boy over there," she nudged her head at Samuel. "He must be your son. It would be a shame to see his father die," she yelled out and thrust her sword down and it hit a large golden vase instead. Phraates crawled on the floor then soon got up and backed away from her. "Go ahead and run! That's what you're best at, isn't it?!"

Phraates grinned, "on the contrary Xena. I am going to offer you a deal," he saw her eyes perk up. "Your daughter's hand in marriage to my son, Samuel. Peace between kingdoms at last after hundreds of years!"

Xena growled and kicked the king's sword out from his hand and she pinned him to the ground holding her blade close to his chest. "My daughter is not a bargaining tool! Not for you! Not for anybody!"

Phraates began laughing, "oh then perhaps...you want her to grow up just like you then? A murdering tyrant...how could a mother be so cruel to give her own child away?" Xena's eyes widened at the mention of Solan. That seemed like eons ago to her and the thought of it infuriated her. She snarled and put her hand around Phraates' throat, choking him.

Samuel looked over and saw Xena on top of his father, choking him to death with her grip. His eyes widened and Eve stayed behind Gabrielle, crouching down hoping she wouldn't get hit. Eve caught glimpse of Samuel. She tugged on his pants and Samuel remained still.

"Samuel!" Eve called out and the young prince shook his head out of his daze and peered down at her. "Don't look at that!"

"But she is killing my father!" his eyes grew and swelled with tears as he saw his father choking in Xena's hold. Eve grumbled and shook her head.

"He was going to kill my mother!" she said a bit surprised that didn't even register in Samuel's head the entire time she was here. He started marching forward and her eyes grew in fear. "What are you doing?!" she leaped forward and wrapped her arms around his leg preventing him from moving.

He grunted trying to shake Eve off his leg. "let go of me!"

"No!" Eve was dragging behind as he desperately tried to get closer to Phraates and Xena. He grabbed a broken spear and Eve's eyes widened. "Samuel, no!" she tried to hold onto his leg but he kicked her off and she slid on the marble floor into the throne hitting her head. She groaned rubbing the back of her head and saw Samuel walking towards Xena with a spear.

Phraates' eyes traveled to his son with the spear in his hand and he smiled. Xena's grip tightened and she cringed. "You _want_ to die?!" she spat in his face.

Samuel lifted the spear in the air and Eve gasped. She got up as quickly as she could and tackled Samuel to the ground. Xena looked behind her and saw her daughter wrestling with the young prince. "I see all your off spring are as cowardly as you," Xena turned her attention to Phraates once more. She grabbed her sword and then thrust it into his gut. Phraates' mouth gaped and blood began pouring out of his mouth. "Not anymore...not ever again..." she stood up and took the sword out, his wound bleeding profusely.

The young prince saw his dying father on the ground and he pushed Eve off of him and crawled to him. Eve stood up and saw the sad look on his face. Xena turned and saw Eve, which seemed like an eternity since she'd laid eyes on her.

She knelt down and Eve ran to her embracing her warmly. Xena hugged her tightly and then cupped her cheeks in her palms, kissing her forehead. "I'm so happy to see you're alright!"

Eve smiled softly. "I kept telling them that you would come for me, but they didn't believe me!"

Xena chuckled lightly and kissed the top of her head and stood up. Eve hugged her mother's side as she stared at the broken prince kneeling next to his now dead father. "I feel bad for Samuel. He was nice to me."

Xena raised an eyebrow. "He tried to stab me in the back, Eve."

Eve sighed nodding her head. Xena grabbed her hand and they walked off towards Gabrielle who was finishing off the last few of the men coming at her. Gabrielle huffed, smiling at the two walking towards them.

Gabrielle held out her hand to Eve. "Ready to go home?"

Eve looked back at Samuel and then to Gabrielle and Xena. "Can I say goodbye to Samuel?"

Xena and Gabrielle shared a glance and Xena pushed Eve forward. "Alright, but be quick." Eve smiled and ran off to join Samuel. Gabrielle folded her arms as she saw the small girl have such a large heart. "She likes him," Xena frowned.

Gabrielle smirked, nudging Xena in the ribs. She winced and then Gabrielle gasped. "oh sorry I forgot," she apologized and Xena rolled her eyes. "He helped me find Eve and also tried to help her escape." Xena raised a questioning brow at her and Gabrielle nodded. "It's true!"

* * *

Eve knelt down next to Samuel and he felt her presence near him. "What do _you_ want?"

She felt a little guilty but at the same time his father was going to do the exact same thing. "I'm sorry...about your father, Samuel."

Samuel looked at her with tear filled eyes. "Sorry for what? Sorry that your mother killed him?" he shook his head and Eve blinked, feeling speechless once again.

She touched his shoulder gently. "I'm not my mother and you're not your father...we're different!" she smiled weakly. He didn't seem to abject to that and his body loosened at her touch. "Just because our parents hate each other doesn't mean we have to..." he looked into her blue eyes, "...right?" she grinned. He didn't respond and instead wiped his tear stained cheeks with the back of his hand. "I trust you," she whispered in his ear and he turned to look at her with those sparkling blue eyes of hers. "You should come to Athens one day." She was about to leave and then leaned in to kiss his cheek quickly and ran off back to her mother and Gabrielle. Samuel's eyes widened and he saw Eve cling closely to Xena and he smiled at her.

* * *

The three Greek females walked back to the coastline together. Eve in between Gabrielle and Xena, each one holding her small hands. "I hope you have learned your lesson, Eve," Gabrielle said.

Eve nodded, "yes I did. Don't get married at a young age," she joked and Xena rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh.

"How about don't get married at all?" Xena blankly stated and Eve gasped.

"You won't even take to me to see the inner city of Athens and now you're telling me I can't get married?!" Eve seemed a bit outraged at this and Gabrielle started laughing then saw Xena's glare.

Xena sighed, "fine Eve, I will take you to see Athens but don't you ever wander off by yourself again!" she scolded her and Eve's head hung lowly.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again," Eve said and Xena nodded her head. "I have learned so much in these last few days." A moment of silence passed between the three.

Gabrielle feeling curious asked, "and what did you learn?"

"I got kidnapped by Persians and was engaged to one! Did you know Samuel has ten brothers and sisters? His father has a lot of wives! The king also made me dress up like a _Persian princess_ ," she mocked and Xena frowned deeply.

"Is that _all_ he made you do?" she asked curiously. Eve looked up at her mother a bit confused.

"Well...yeah?" Xena let out a sigh of relief leaving her daughter completely oblivious, which in this case, was a good thing.

Gabrielle smirked as she saw Xena relax a bit more. This situation was hardly relaxing considering Xena's state. She had blood all over her and her hair was a mess, but they had Eve back, which was all that mattered at the moment and she was unharmed. Gabrielle picked up Eve in her arms. The girl's long lanky legs hung loosely on Gabrielle.

"so tell me more about your Persian adventures."

Eve grinned wrapping her arm around Gabrielle's neck. "Well Samuel knows how to play chess! He also sucks at fighting. Did you know I broke his nose? So then I..."

Xena smiled trailing behind them a few paces listening to Eve tell all her stories. It is a good time to be a child, she thought.

"Are we taking a Persian ship back home?!" Eve gasped as they approached the coastline and saw a large battle ship waiting for them with the rest of Xena's men aboard. They smiled at the three and Eve waved at them all. She jumped out of Gabrielle's arms and went to the smaller boat that was waiting for them at the shore. "Are you two coming or what?" she smiled back at Xena and Gabrielle.

Gabrielle smirked at Xena with folded arms. "She's just like you, Xena."

Xena walked forward to the boat. "I think she is more like you Gabrielle." She stepped onto the boat and Gabrielle shook her head and followed in after her.

"I can't wait to tell Solan everything!" Eve said excitedly.

Xena smiled warmly, "oh I'm sure, but I think he'd like an apology...?" she peered down at her daughter and Eve hadn't really thought of that. She hung her head lowly in shame.

Eve sighed heavily, "alright fine, an apology first!" she held up her finger. "And then I can tell him my stories?" she eyed her mother. Xena simply smiled and rowed the boat closer to the large Persian ship to head back to Athens.


	52. Chapter 52

**AN: so this is the last chapter of the story. I want to thank everyone for reading this story and hope everyone enjoyed it!  
**

**I have been asked three times if there will be a sequel, but I don't have an answer to that just yet! Afraid to continue this, even though I could do so much more with it if there was a sequel. We'll see! Enjoy and thanks again ;)**

**The title "The Lady of Shanghai" has a meaning behind it: it means that it is a woman from all lands, one who travels across the world. Not confined to just one place.**

_The Young Empress_

Eve ran to her room and immediately stripped of her combat garments from earlier in the morning. She had been training with the female students for over an hour but now she had to get ready. She rummaged through her chest of clothes and pulled out several dresses onto the bed. She ran over to Zoe inside her cage and set her palms on her knees.

"Today is the day Zoe! Today is the day that Gabrielle and mother are taking me to see Athens!" she grinned widely and put up a red dress up to her body as she stared into the mirror. She hummed to herself and then put the lavender gown up to her body. "What do you think Zoe, red or lavender?"

Eve crinkled her nose and stared at herself with the two dresses side by side. "you're right, the lavender one looks much better," she nodded and slipped the dress on and put on her gold sandals that Gabrielle got her a few months ago. The small girl brushed her hair accordingly and smiled at her reflection quite satisfied with herself. She ran out of her room and burst into her mother's room without announcing herself.

Xena's eyes widened and she turned around covering her bare chest, only wearing long black pants. "Eve! What did I tell you about coming into my room like that?" she groaned and then slipped on a blouse and turned around to see a very excited girl staring back at her. She smiled shaking her head, refusing to be mad at her.

Gabrielle came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and saw Eve standing at the entrance of the room wearing her special lavender gown and gold sandals. She came up behind her and hugged her tightly. Eve squealed as Gabrielle lifted her up off the floor. "Someone is excited!"

Eve giggled and her second mother set her down. "Gabrielle you have no idea!" she smiled widely. "I've been waiting for this day for three months now! Do you know how long that is?"

Xena smirked and she sat on her bed lacing her boots. "Let me guess, an eternity?" she teased her daughter and Eve raised an eyebrow at her mother. Eve plopped down on the bed next to her mother and watched her lace her boots. "Now Eve, when we get to the inner city I don't want you sneaking off without me or Gabrielle, got it?" she peered down at her child and Eve smiled nodding her head vigorously.

Gabrielle slyly smiled and began dressing behind a curtain while Eve patiently waited on the bed. Eve sighed heavily and hopped off the bed. "You two are taking forever!" she tugged on her mother's arm and tried pulling her off the bed. "Come on!"

Xena stood up as she was being dragged out of her room by her own daughter. Xena grabbed Gabrielle's arm and pulled her along with her. "She is really eager, isn't she?" Xena whispered to her blonde companion.

Gabrielle chuckled, "what gave you that idea?" she jested. Eve let go of her mother's hand and ran down the stairs without them to head outside to the caravan.

* * *

Eve anxiously stared out the window of the caravan as the three traveled to the inner city of Athens. Xena nudged Gabrielle and pointed at Eve. Both shared a glance and stifled a laugh. The girl was so excited she couldn't stop shaking her legs and staring out the window. She should have just glued her face to the curtains.

"Eve do you think you could settle down just a little bit?" Xena suggested and pat her daughter's knee gently. The raven haired princess smiled eagerly at her mother and Gabrielle.

"Are we there yet?" she peered out the window once more for the millionth time. Gabrielle chuckled softly at Eve's anxious state.

Gabrielle leaned forward, "Eve you asked that a few minutes ago, but we're getting close," she grinned. "By the gods Xena I think we've lost her," she joked and Xena rolled her eyes. Suddenly the caravan came to a halt and Eve stood up ready to leave. Gabrielle grabbed the child's hand tightly. "Hey no running off, alright?"

Eve nodded and exited the caravan pulling Gabrielle along with her. Her eyes wandered around and saw many people staring at her and Gabrielle. Xena stepped out behind them and put her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders squeezing them lightly. Eve ran forward and was pulled back by Gabrielle. "Eve..."

"Can I go look at the jewelry?" she pouted and Gabrielle frowned. "Please, Gabrielle? I'm not going to run off again, I promise. I promised, right mother?" she looked behind and Xena sighed nudging her head. Eve smiled and ran off to one of the shops to look at the beautiful necklaces and earrings.

Gabrielle folded her arms and Xena stepped beside her friend. "She is really a beautiful girl, isn't she Xena?"

"She is," Xena walked forward and stood next to her daughter admiring all of the jewelry. The man stared at the child and smiled at her. He glanced up at Xena and lowered his gaze. He then picked up a silver necklace and presented it to Eve.

"This is a very special necklace. Perfect for a pretty girl like you," he smiled and Eve took the necklace and put it up to her small neck. Xena grazed her palm over Eve's hair and the man brought out a small mirror for Eve to look at the jeweled necklace.

Eve stared at herself with the necklace on and glanced up at her mother. "Can I get this necklace, mother?"

Gabrielle finally joined the two and saw Eve admiring the necklace and Xena's pursed lips. It was obvious that she was not keen on the necklace as much as Eve was. She heard the child ask Xena if she could get the necklace for the second time with pouty blue eyes. "I will get it for you, Eve."

Xena's eyes narrowed at Gabrielle and she set her hands on her hips. Gabrielle paid the merchant and Eve smiled putting the necklace on her neck before running off to another shop. " _Gabrielle_...you're spoiling her!" she scoffed.

Gabrielle's eyebrow raised testing Xena's patience. "Is that such a bad thing, Xena?" she gestured to Eve as she found a few children playing with wooden swords and wanted to join in. "Look at her, she's so happy!"

The empress folded her arms as she watched Eve spar with the young children her age. "I won't spoil her moment, but don't buy her anything else!" she scowled and Gabrielle shrugged her shoulder.

* * *

A few hours later Xena was becoming bored of following Gabrielle and Eve around the entire city. She hadn't been so bored in her entire life. She wasn't much for shopping especially in her own city. It was also unsettling that everyone stared at her wherever she went and certainly couldn't take their eyes off of Eve. They were probably confused at best. She hadn't told her people that there was a princess in her empire. She didn't want to expose Eve to the public but she figured that many people had suspected that she was her daughter from her clothes, hair and eyes. She looked so much like her.

Xena allowed Gabrielle to take Eve around the city as she was not in the mood to keep walking around anymore. She stepped into a tavern on the outskirts of the city and many people stood up slightly bowing their heads. She sighed walking passed them and sat down at a table by herself. The innkeeper brought her a glass of wine and she smiled curtly at him.

She leaned back in the chair and sipped on the warm alcohol trying to ignore all of the eyes staring at her. "Tough crowd huh?"

Xena coughed and looked to the seat next to her. "What do you want Ares?" she scowled.

The War God made himself comfortable next to Xena invisible to the mortal eyes surrounding them. "Out shopping with the girls?" he teased. Xena rolled her eyes and downed the wine immediately asking for another. "That daughter of yours is pretty precious to you isn't she?" he winked.

Xena snarled at him. "Stay away from her Ares!" she pointed her finger at his chest. The innkeeper set the wine down and stared at her strangely as she appeared to be talking to herself. "What are you staring at?!" she snapped at the man and he slowly backed away.

"I guess I should thank my sweet sister for gifting the child to you. She looks just like you. The same spark, fire...beauty," Ares touched Xena's hand and she snatched it away from him folding her arms, slouching in the chair. "Good job, princess. Great genes!" he laughed and Xena grimaced.

"Have you come to just admire my daughter like the pervert that you are?" she smiled tightly and Ares' smile disappeared immediately.

The War God chuckled and grabbed her hand. "Why don't you just come with me? I got something to show you, Xena." She pulled away but he insisted that she'd follow him. Suddenly they were not in the tavern anymore and Xena looked around in an open field.

She walked forward and realized she was not in Athens anymore. Eve and Gabrielle were not here, it was only her and Ares. Marching forward she pushed Ares and he frowned. "Where have you taken me? What is this?"

Ares grinned slyly, "looks nice doesn't it? open fields...peace and quiet. Not used to it huh?" he snickered. "Perhaps you'd like to see something more exciting?" he walked forward and Xena followed behind him. Over the hill they looked at a burning village ahead. Xena's eyes widened as she heard wailing of women and children running away from the flames.

"What is this?" Xena questioned. Memories of raping and pillaging villages in her past came back to her. The screams haunted her and she didn't want to hear that ever again.

Ares set his hands on her shoulders, "oh you don't recognize this place do you?" he smiled. "Yeah, I bet you wouldn't with the flames and all!" Ares chuckled and Xena drew a dagger from her boot and Ares snapped his fingers, getting rid of the weapon. He wagged his finger inches from her face. "No weapons here, princess." He pushed her forward and she squinted her eyes trying to make out the village. It was quite a large village and even though she kept staring, it didn't look familiar to her. She then saw a woman riding on a horse carrying a large sword and she slit a man's neck. Xena's eyes widened and wanted to turn away. She stepped forward getting ready to help the helpless people but Ares pulled her back.

"Don't interfere, Xena. This is your future!" he smiled and Xena snapped her head around glaring at him. "Your precious Amphipolis is burning to the ground." Xena felt her heart stop and immediately her mother came to her thoughts.

She shook her head refusing to believe it. "But Amphipolis belongs to my empire...it belongs to _me_!" she growled. "If this is my future then where am I and who is ransacking my village?" she didn't want to question the god, knowing he might lie. He sighed and grabbed hold of her hand disappearing to a different place.

Xena snatched her hand away from him and saw that they were in her palace. It didn't look that much different but she didn't know how far in the future this was. They were in one of the royal chambers and she stepped closer as she saw flowers on the marble ground. Frowning she feared what she might see she knelt down and stared into the floor. It was made of glass and she saw her own face staring back at her. Standing up abruptly her eyes widened. Her own face stared back at her and she was not alive, she was dead, entombed for eternity it seemed like. Becoming curious she peered over at the tomb beneath the glass floor and stared at her face again. She unconsciously touched her own hair as she kept staring. Her lifeless body laid there peacefully. Her hair had a long silver streak in it but her face remained much of the same.

"Ares, what in Hades in this?!" she frowned pointing at her own grave in her palace.

He scoffed, "you don't pay attention do you? I said this is your future!"

Xena yelled, "I'm dead!" she pushed him and he was knocked back a few steps. Her heart sank once she thought of Gabrielle, Solan and Eve. If this was the future then they must be here too unless they were all dead as well, but then her palace would be taken over by someone else. "What about Gabrielle? Where is she? What about Eve and Solan?"

Ares sighed heavily, "I had a feeling you were going to ask about them." He waltzed over to a balcony and nudged his head for her to look outside. She stepped out onto the balcony and saw an army of men training in unison and a woman leading them, or more like overseeing them. Xena squinted her eyes and saw the woman's dark long hair, reaching to her hips and she wore gold armor with a red cape.

The svelte woman turned around and Xena stared at her eyes. She knew those eyes and her gestures had not changed even after so many years. "Eve?" her mouth gaped. "But...why is she commanding an army? Ares!" she spat at him and he put his hands up shrugging his shoulders. "you better tell me what's going on or else –"

"Or else what? You'll kill me? Please, Xena," he laughed at her and she punched him in the face. He gasped and touched his nose, glaring at her.

"why is my daughter commanding an army? Where is Solan and Gabrielle?" she questioned, not sure if she wanted to find out the answer. He sighed and snapped his fingers landing them elsewhere. They were no longer in the palace or Athens for that matter. He pointed at the campsite near them and Xena walked forward. She saw Gabrielle, clad in armor and talking to a few men. None of this made any sense to Xena the longer she stared.

"Do whatever you have to do to stop the Empress. She's preparing an army as we speak," Gabrielle waved her hand dismissively and retreated to her tent to sit down. Xena cocked her head to the side utterly confused. She stepped inside the tent and saw Gabrielle overlooking a map of Greece. She saw her own empire had expanded far more than when she was in power. She circled Athens with her quill and threw the map aside, groaning to herself.

Xena stood watching Gabrielle and she could feel her emotions overcoming her. Gabrielle stood up and Xena smiled at her but she walked through her body. She suddenly forgot that she wasn't really here. Her head sunk lowly and then she followed Gabrielle out the tent and saw her go to a river alone. Ares stayed behind while Xena followed her.

Gabrielle knelt down in front of the river and stared at her own reflection. She was not used to wearing armor and commanding an army but she had done it for the last five years. She splashed her reflection in the water with her hand and cursed silently to herself. Xena watched from afar and saw the pain in Gabrielle's eyes. She wanted to comfort her and stepped forward reaching her hand out but retracted it as she realized she wasn't truly there.

"What should I do Xena?" Gabrielle stared up at the sky and saw a bird fly over her head. She sighed, "You would know what to do, you always did," she smiled sadly. Xena stepped forward and stood a foot behind Gabrielle listening to her soft words. The blonde groaned and threw a rock into the river. "I wish you were here. Why did you have to leave me?" she angrily stared up at the skies. "why?!"

Xena smiled warmly shaking her head. "But I am here Gabrielle!" she said but received no response.

Gabrielle shook her head and stared at her reflection again in the calm waters. "I don't know what happened. When you died..." she smiled sadly, "I promised that I would keep Eve and Solan safe and I failed. I disappointed you. Now..." she breathed heavily, "I must try and stop her from becoming something that you tried so hard to destroy." She rubbed her head and Xena's eyes widened. Eve was the one burning Amphipolis. She was a tyrant, a murderer just like she was all those years ago. Gabrielle looked up at the sky once more and smiled warmly. "I promise I won't fail you this time, Xena." She turned to leave and Xena turned around watching her leave her side.

She walked behind Gabrielle and touched her shoulder though her hand went straight through her. "You could never disappoint me, Gabrielle!" she whispered and Gabrielle halted in her step, furrowing her eyebrows. She turned around as if she heard a voice but saw nothing. Xena smiled at her as she felt tears swell in her eyes. Gabrielle left the river to go back to the campsite leaving Xena alone, once again.

Ares appeared beside Xena and he smirked at her. "You hear that? She thinks she failed! And now she's scrounging up an army to defeat your only...daughter," he shrugged. "Well you know what they say? History does repeat itself."

Xena scowled, "I don't want to see any more of this, Ares. Take me back to Athens!" she demanded.

"You aren't the least bit curious to know how Eve got this way?" he teased and Xena punched him in the face again.

"No because that is not going to happen! This is one of your dirty tricks trying to sway me off my path," she folded her arms. She smiled slyly at him. "You're just mad that you can't have me. Is that it Ares?" she eyed him carefully and his eyes shifted elsewhere. She mockingly laughed at him. "Oh that's rich. You concocted this little world just to drive me insane. Well, it's not going to work! This is not going to happen! Take me back to Athens now!"

Ares grabbed her hand and they appeared back in the tavern once more exactly where they were before. She stared around and realized that everyone was still looking at her. She immediately got up from the table and ran out of the tavern searching for Gabrielle and Eve. She then saw her daughter running towards her and a thankful smile came to her lips.

Eve came to a halt and held up a box. She presented it to her mother and Xena embraced her and squeezed her tiny body tightly as if she were hugging her for the first time. Eve didn't expect such a warm greeting from her mother and she patted her mother's back as she felt the life leaving her body from the embrace. "Mother...I can't breathe!" she said in a hoarse voice and Xena let go of her and kissed her forehead. "I bought you something! Well actually Gabrielle bought it...but I picked it out!" she pushed the gift to her mother.

Xena smiled and opened the box and it was a golden bracelet. Simple but yet special. "Thank you Eve, it's beautiful," she grazed her fingertips along her soft cheek and put on the bracelet on her wrist.

"Gabrielle said that she couldn't buy me anything else...but she didn't say anything about not getting you something!" Eve sneakily smiled. Xena's face beamed and she picked up Eve in her arms.

"Have you had enough exploring for today?" Xena asked and Eve yawned, feeling quite exhausted from her adventures. She set her down on the ground again and pushed her forward. "Go back to the caravan. Gabrielle and I will meet you there." Eve nodded and ran back to the caravan. Xena stared longer than needed, almost as if time was going to rip her daughter right out from under her.

Gabrielle stepped forward and touched Xena's arm. "Are you alright?" Xena peered down at her and then hugged her tightly. "Okay..." she smiled and returned the hug. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Xena pulled back from the embrace and touched Gabrielle's cheek. "Yes I'm fine. I just want you to know that I appreciate everything you have done for me and Eve. I know that you will never disappoint me." She smiled.

Gabrielle eyed her carefully but grinned in return. "I love Eve as if she were my own daughter. As far as disappointing you...I hope I never do," she wrapped her around Xena and the empress smiled warmly.

"You never will. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Gabrielle. And don't you forget that!" she winked and Gabrielle shook her head as she watched Xena walk off to go back to the caravan as Eve was waiting for them both. She quickly caught up with her and linked arms with Xena as they traveled the rest of the way back.

Ares leaned on the tavern wall as he watched Xena and Gabrielle retreat back to the caravan. He pursed his lips and shook his head. "that's the last time I try to help you, Xena." He soon disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Later in the evening that same day Gabrielle came into Eve's room and saw her curled up under her blankets reading something and Zoe was sitting patiently on her shoulder almost as if she were her protector. She stood beside the bed and Eve looked up smiling at Gabrielle and set her scroll aside.

"What are you reading?" Gabrielle sat down on the bed and Eve scooted up leaning against her pillows.

"Just something I found in the library. It's about Hercules," Eve grinned widely and Gabrielle crossed her legs making herself comfortable. "Thank you for buying me that necklace, Gabrielle! I really love it. I know mother doesn't like when you buy me stuff," she smirked.

Gabrielle pinched Eve's leg lightly and tickled her tiny body causing her to erupt in laughter. "I would buy anything for you, Eve, even if your mother doesn't like it," she winked.

"you're the best Gabrielle," Eve's eyes twinkled and Gabrielle sighed then stood up to leave.

"I'm glad you had a good time today. Hopefully we can go explore other places too," she leaned down and kissed her head gently. Xena entered the room and leaned against the door frame. Gabrielle caught glimpse of her friend and Eve glanced behind her to see her mother standing there with that same look she gave her earlier today. "I'll be in our room. Goodnight Eve," she smiled and brushed past Xena.

Eve smiled widely, "goodnight Gabrielle!" she called out and Xena casually made her way to her daughter's bed and sat down beside her, stretching her legs out. A silent moment passed by and suddenly Eve reached over and hugged Xena as tightly as she could, catching Xena off guard. "Thanks for taking me to see Athens, mother. I had a lot of fun! Gabrielle said we could go to other places!"

Xena raised an eyebrow, "did she?" she would have to talk to her friend about making promises to little girls like that. "so your birthday is in a few days," she teased and nudged Eve's arm with her elbow. Eve bit her bottom lip and elbowed her mother back playfully. Suddenly Xena had the best idea and she had been contemplating it for the last few hours ever since Ares showed her that 'other side' earlier that day.

"What do you think about traveling somewhere for your birthday?" Xena smirked.

Eve's eyes lit up at that. She thought that Athens was great, but traveling somewhere else and so soon, she could barely contain her excitement. She picked up Zoe and set her on her bedside table and got up from underneath the sheets, standing up on her bed. Xena's eyes widened and the young princess clamped her hands together. "Really? I can go with you somewhere?! This is great news! Where are we going? Is it like Athens? Can we go to Anatolia?"

Xena stifled a laugh and shook her head. "Alright, settle down," she grabbed Eve's waist and brought her to sit in her lap. Eve wiggled her way out and Xena pulled her back. "Would you calm down? Zeus..." she sighed. Eve stayed still and lowered her gaze. "How 'bout we go to Amphipolis? I know someone there would be very happy to see you," she tapped Eve's nose lightly and the girl scratched her nose.

"Someone happy to see _me_? Where is Amphi...Am..."

Xena chuckled, "Amphipolis. It's where I grew up with my brothers and mother. I know my mother would be very excited to meet you."

Eve's eyes lit up. "Wow..." she sighed and began staring at the ceiling in deep thought. Her little face was enough to make Xena laugh. She looked so concentrated on whatever was going through her mind. "I have a grandmother?" Xena nodded smiling widely. Eve slapped her mother's shoulder playfully and folded her arms. "How come I didn't know this?" she frowned.

Xena brushed a few tendrils behind Eve's ear and pursed her lips. "Well Eve, I've been very busy. She knows about you though. I sent word to her on your first birthday. She will be so excited to finally meet you!" she squeezed her daughter's shoulder reassuring her that she was indeed important. Eve sighed audibly and agreed.

"Okay I will go! When can we leave?" she eagerly asked and stood up on her bed again trying to hold back her excitement.

Xena stood up and grabbed Eve forcing her underneath the blankets. "We can leave tomorrow if you want?" Eve nodded vigorously. "Alright, then we will leave tomorrow," she kissed her forehead and turned to leave. She pointed her finger at the child, "don't stay up all night!"

Eve snuggled in her covers and had a mischievous smile on her lips. "I promise I won't, mother. Goodnight!" Xena smiled and closed the door behind her to go to her room where Gabrielle said she'd be.

* * *

Gabrielle had changed into something more comfortable while Xena was still in her armor attire. She sat on the bed and stared at Xena as she closed the door behind her and sighed heavily. "Xena, are you alright? You've been quiet all day ever since we came home."

Xena waved her hand dismissively and began taking off her corset and blouse. "I'm alright, Gabrielle."

The blonde folded her arms leaning against the pillows with a devious smile. Xena caught the glimpse and frowned. "What's with the face?"

"Xena..I know something is bothering you. If it's about the necklace I bought for Eve well...you can just get over it!" she laughed. Xena shook her head and threw her corset on a chair and took off her blouse.

"It's not about the necklace," she mumbled and began unlacing her pants then threw them aside. She sat down on the edge of the bed and began unlacing her boots next.

Gabrielle crawled to the other side of the bed and sat very close to Xena. "So...something _is_ bothering you."

Xena shook her head, "I didn't say that."

"But it's implied." Gabrielle smirked.

"No," Xena rolled her eyes and threw her boots over at the wall. " _you're_ implying it," she jabbed her finger in Gabrielle's chest.

"Now you're getting angry. Well looks like I'll just have to wait until I make you so angry then you'll have to tell me what it is!" Gabrielle plopped down on the bed resting her hands behind her head. Xena glared at her and stood up to go brush her hair before getting in bed. Gabrielle sat up on her elbows and groaned. "Come on! You can tell me what it is Xena. We've been through a lot together. You can tell me..." she said in a much gentler tone this time.

Xena slammed the brush on the vanity and turned on her heel to glare at her friend. "I don't want to talk about it, alright?" she smiled tightly.

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow and laid down in the middle of the bed. Xena came over and pulled the blankets over and folded her arms. "I'm not moving until you tell me," she protested. Xena grinned deviously.

"you know I can throw you across the room, right?" she smiled playfully. Gabrielle pursed her lips and didn't really want to be thrown across the room right about now so she scooted over to her side of the bed to allow Xena to lay next to her. "Thank you," Xena got under the covers and banged her head against the headboard of the bed.

Gabrielle came up close to Xena and rubbed her arm warmly. "What's bothering you so much that you can't even tell me what it is?" she stared at her and Xena's eyes reverted to the ceiling remaining silent. "I know you don't like to talk about stuff, but...I think you've gotten so much better!" she smiled trying to cheer her up but it wasn't working.

Xena's head lolled over and she stared into her friend's green bright eyes. "Gabrielle," she adjusted herself to face her and grabbed her hand tightly. "Promise me when..." she sighed, "when I die, that...you will watch over Eve and Solan, but especially Eve."

Gabrielle pulled her hand away a bit surprised to hear her say that. "What are you talking about?"

"Promise me!" Xena eyes narrowed and Gabrielle jumped back at her serious tone.

She nodded her head slowly, "Alright...I promise. What is going on with you to say things like that?"

Xena sighed and folded her arms. She definitely didn't want to talk about Ares and she wasn't going to because none of that 'other side' business wasn't going to happen. Everything that he showed her always ended up different than she predicted. "I don't want her to end up like me." Gabrielle cocked her head to the side, confused at her words. "I mean, not like the old me."

Gabrielle shook her head, "Xena, Eve adores you! She's never seen that side of you. She only knows this side of you –the good side."

Xena smiled and pat Gabrielle's hand. "And I want to keep it that way. I know you won't disappoint me, Gabrielle," she kissed her hand and Gabrielle crinkled her nose. Xena laid down on her back and stared up at the ceiling with a blank face. "Oh by the way, I told Eve that we'd take her to see my mother in Amphipolis. We're leaving tomorrow."

Gabrielle's mouth gaped. " _Tomorrow_? Wasn't Athens enough?" she jested. She laid down beside her still thinking about what Xena said. She thought it best not to pry any more questions out of her as Xena wasn't likely to answer them. _I will ask you about this again, Xena_. She sighed loudly and shrugged her shoulders. "Well I guess a grandmother trumps my birthday present for Eve," she teased.

Xena snapped her head and frowned at her. "What did you get her this time?"

"I'm not telling you. It's a surprise. Besides you gave her Elijah for her last birthday! She barely looked at my gift," Gabrielle rolled over with her back facing the empress. Xena leaned on her elbows and frowned at her friend. Gabrielle felt Xena's eyes burning into her back.

"It better not be some kind of weapon," Xena grumbled and Gabrielle chuckled quietly to herself. "Gabrielle!"

"Oh calm down it's not a weapon," she called out. "Goodnight Xena." She snuggled under the blankets and saw Xena blow out the candles and adjust herself in the bed.

A few moments passed by and Xena furrowed her brows. "Is it a new dress? She really doesn't need any more clothes."

"Nope." Gabrielle closed her eyes trying to go to sleep.

Xena frowned and flipped over on her other side and stared at Gabrielle's back facing hers. "New boots?"

Gabrielle smiled, "no Xena. Now go to sleep."

Xena folded her arms and stared at the ceiling. Gabrielle breathed quietly and finally heard silence, she began to fall asleep soundly. "did you get her black powder?"

Gabrielle's eyes shot open at that question. She groaned quietly.

* * *

Xena asked Solan the following morning if he would like to join them to travel to Amphipolis but he declined. He apparently was going to Assyria to meet with Allat. He had not seen him in five years and wanted to visit. At first she didn't want him to go, but realized that he really wasn't a child anymore and couldn't control his actions or his desires. Though she could control Eve..for now.

Mid afternoon the three females had slowed down to a trot on their horses. They had been riding for hours and Xena was sure that Eve would become bored but the truth was, she wouldn't shut her mouth. She talked the entire way and Xena tuned her out through most of her blabbing. Gabrielle chuckled at a few of the things Eve said, though unnecessary and not important things, they were still funny.

Xena was ahead of the three scouting the area throughout their journey. Eve rode on her white stallion next to Gabrielle the entire way. "Hey Eve, do you want to play a game?" Gabrielle asked. Eve nodded her head, maybe that'd get her to stop talking for awhile. Gabrielle tapped her chin trying to think of a fun game to play to keep the girl interested. "Alright. So, I say a few words and you have to guess who or what I'm talking about. Got it?"

Xena rolled her eyes. "Not that game again."

Gabrielle frowned, "don't listen to her, she's in a grumpy mood," she whispered to Eve. The princess giggled quietly and Xena turned her head and frowned at the two of them. They both remained quiet and had bright smiles on their faces. "Okay so...I have many eyes but...nobody can look at me, who am I?"

Eve rubbed her chin thinking intensely. "Is it a god?" Gabrielle shrugged. "Is it...a mortal?" the blonde shook her head. She snapped her fingers and gasped loudly. "It's a gorgon!"

Gabrielle nodded her head. "That's right! Ready for the next riddle?"

"I'm not," Xena smirked. She kicked Argo gently and rode ahead to a secluded forest. "We should stop here it will be dark soon." Gabrielle and Eve caught up with her and dismounted their horses along with Xena.

Later after Gabrielle started a fire and help Xena set up their beds. Xena waltzed around and dug in her bag to find a dagger. Even hours later Gabrielle was still playing that game with Eve and it's not that Xena didn't want Eve to enjoy herself but she really hated that game. She never lasted more than thirty minutes playing that game with Gabrielle when they were bored traveling to and from Greece.

Xena sighed and sheathed her sword. The two were next to the fire and enjoying themselves obviously. "I'm going hunting. Stay here with Eve, Gabrielle." Gabrielle nodded but Eve frowned and followed Xena and tugged on her arm halting her.

"Can I come with you?" she pleaded. Xena smiled and pushed her back towards Gabrielle.

"I think it would be better if you stayed here with Gabrielle. You two can keep playing your game," she walked on ahead and Eve frowned and ran after Xena again and pulled on her arm, harder this time.

"I want to come! Pleaaaseee?" Eve pouted and batted her eyelashes. Xena rolled her eyes and Gabrielle stifled a laugh.

Gabrielle stood up and grabbed a smaller dagger from the bag and threw it at Xena. "I can stay here. You should take her Xena. I mean...it _is_ her birthday tomorrow," she winked. Xena knew she couldn't say no to that, especially since she was a little irritated that she didn't tell Xena what she got Eve for her birthday.

Xena put the dagger in her boot and grabbed Eve's small hand. " _Alright_...let's go." Eve let go of her mother's hand and ran ahead without her. "Eve! No running off!" she skipped ahead to catch up to her.

* * *

Awhile later Xena and Eve stayed hidden behind a tree waiting for the small rabbit to come out of its little home. Eve was on her knees peering through a bush with a wide smile. "Now?"

Xena frowned, "not yet, Eve." She whispered.

"When?" Eve asked and then saw the rabbit hopping out to eat some berries from a nearby bush. "There he is!" she pointed and Xena shushed her. Eve smiled and covered her mouth, trying to force herself not to say anything. Xena grabbed her chakram at her hip quietly and inched forward quietly. She threw the chakram and killed the rabbit instantly. She stood up and grabbed Eve's hand leading her to the slain animal.

"And that's how you track and hunt," she knelt down and picked up the rabbit by its ears. "Do you want to carry it?" she asked with a sly smile.

Eve grabbed the rabbit, "can you teach me to do that?" Xena set her hand on Eve's shoulder as they walked back to the campsite where Gabrielle was.

"Maybe when you're a little older." Xena pat Eve's head and the child frowned at her and set her hands on her hips as she still held onto the rabbit's ears. Xena set her own hands on her hips copying her daughter's move and stared down at her.

" _Mother_ , I am going to be seven tomorrow. I am practically a woman now," she smiled quite proud of herself.

Xena laughed, "is that so?" Eve walked ahead and Xena placed a protective hand on her shoulder as they walked back together.

"I've been to Persia and was engaged to a prince! I think I can handle killing a little rabbit," she scoffed. Xena smiled warmly and they walked back to greet Gabrielle.

"Who could argue with that logic?" Xena joked.

* * *

The following day was quite warm and Eve had stayed up most of the night refusing to sleep. She was trying to fight off sleep but kept dosing off on her horse as they strolled through the open grassy fields. Gabrielle trotted alongside Xena and nudged her arm.

"She didn't go to sleep at all, look at her," Gabrielle smiled and Xena turned her head over her shoulder and saw Eve's head lolling to the side falling between a half awake half asleep state.

Xena smirked, "she's just anxious. She's never been on a long journey like this. I'm surprised she's lasted this far," she chuckled. Gabrielle rolled her eyes and Eve fell asleep as her horse trailed behind Argo and Gabrielle's horse.

A few quiet hours later Xena halted Argo and saw her home village just down the hill. Gabrielle held onto Elijah's reins as Eve was still asleep resting her head on the horse's mane. "Eve, we're here," Xena called out and Eve stirred awake, rubbing her eyes.

Eve looked out to the village ahead and it was nothing like Athens. Nothing extravagant or fancy about this place. Her room was probably bigger than a single house in this village. "Wow! It's so different from home," she smiled as she saw women working in the fields on the outskirts of Amphipolis. She kicked Elijah and rode down the hill leaving her mother and Gabrielle behind.

Xena gritted her teeth, "I swear that girl is going to give me grey hair," she rode down the hill after Eve and Gabrielle followed.

Finally catching up to Eve, Xena grabbed Elijah's reins and pulled the horse back so Eve couldn't ride any further. They were now in the middle of the village and all eyes went straight to them. Eve smiled at everyone and hopped off the horse and waved at everyone, greeting them as they walked by. They stared at Xena as she dismounted Argo and put her hands on Eve's shoulders.

Xena guided Eve towards a temple ahead and told her to wait with Gabrielle. "Why can't I come with you?" Eve asked innocently. Gabrielle knew what Xena was going to do. She was going to see her deceased brothers and probably wanted to be alone.

"Maybe we should wait out here for her?" Gabrielle smiled as she bent down to Eve's eye level. Xena smiled at as a thank you and disappeared into the temple. Eve frowned sadly and peered up at Gabrielle.

"Where is she going?" she folded her arms.

Gabrielle sighed, "she's going to say hello to two very special people that she hasn't seen in a very long time," she ruffled Eve's hair and the princess didn't seem too bothered by it and ran off to look at a nearby shop. Gabrielle groaned and ran off after her.

Later Xena came out of the temple after seeing her brothers and didn't see Gabrielle or Eve anywhere. She searched the area and instantly began panicking. "Gabrielle! Eve!" she called out. She then saw Eve running towards her and had a friend in her hand. She smiled and immediately her fear of losing Eve came to an end. She knelt down and Eve showed her the spider in her hand.

"Look what I found! She looks just like Zoe!" Eve grazed her fingers over the furry spider and Gabrielle cringed. She stood a few feet away, afraid to get near the spider she stayed at a fair distance.

Xena kissed Eve's forehead. "Yes she does. I think it's time for you to meet your grandmother, what do you say?"

Eve's smile disappeared. "Do you think she will like me?"

"I think she will _definitely_ like you," she winked and Eve's smile appeared once more. Gabrielle stepped back as Eve turned around with the spider still firmly in her grasp. Xena stifled a laugh at her friend's reaction and fear of the creature. "Maybe we should leave Zoe number two behind?" she asked and Eve sighed and put the spider on the ground, sad to leave it behind.

Gabrielle came beside Xena as they walked further into the village looking for Cyrene's tavern. "Thanks."

"anything for you," Xena smirked and tapped Gabrielle's shoulder. "Oh what's that, a spider?!"

Gabrielle panicked and looked over her shoulder and both Eve and Xena started laughing. "That's not funny."

* * *

Finally Xena walked into her mother's tavern and all eyes stared at the three who entered. Eve's eyes surveyed the tavern and it didn't look that different than the taverns in Athens. She walked ahead to the bar and reached up picking up an empty wine glass. Gabrielle's eyes widened and she hastily made her way over and snatched the glass from Eve's hand.

Cyrene came around from the kitchen and set a tray of chalices and cups on the bar and then she caught glimpse of Xena and Gabrielle, but also a small child standing with them. "Xena?" she smiled and Xena hid her small grin. She ran forward and immediately hugged her daughter tightly. "You didn't tell me you were coming here!"

"It was a surprise. It's _someone's_ birthday today," Xena peered down at Eve and for once she looked rather shy at the sight of Cyrene.

Cyrene smiled wider and knelt down close to Eve. She touched her long dark hair, she looked just like Xena when she was younger. Thin, tall, light skin and blue eyes. "and you must be Eve, right?" Eve's shyness dissipated and she nodded with a large smile on her face. "Well, I'm sure your mother has told you..." she peered up at Xena and saw a smile on her face that she hadn't seen in quite a long time.

"you're my grandmother," Eve stated and Gabrielle folded her arms watching the two's exchange.

Cyrene hugged Eve and the small child didn't really abject. She pulled away and touched her cheek with the backside of her hand. "And how old are you?"

"I'm seven! You know...my brother was supposed to come with us but he decided to go to Assyria instead," Eve shrugged. Cyrene's eyes widened and Xena covered her eyes. This girl had quite a mouth.

Cyrene stood up and grabbed hold of Eve's hand. "Let's go somewhere more quiet. I'm sure you have lots of stories to tell me." Eve nodded and began chatting away. Xena and Gabrielle quietly followed behind them.

* * *

That evening they came back to Cyrene's home and decided to put Xena and Gabrielle in Xena's old room. Eve would take Lyceus' old room for the night, but she wasn't really tired. Must have been that long nap she took earlier. She told Cyrene all about the palace, the school and training that she did.

Eve began talking about Persia and Xena stood up from the chair and laughed loudly. "Eve I don't think your grandmother wants to hear about that." Eve crinkled her nose.

"But I..." Eve sat there confused and Xena squeezed her shoulders. "Okay, okay!" she huffed. Gabrielle decided to break the silence and brought out her gift that had for Eve.

"Do you want to open your present Eve? I picked it out myself." She handed her the box and Eve anxiously took it and took the lid off the box. Her eyes widened and Xena peered over her daughter's shoulder, a bit curious to see what it was that Gabrielle gifted her.

Cyrene smiled, "show us what it is, Eve."

Eve pulled out a silver necklace with a glass horse trinket. "Wow thanks Gabrielle! It looks just like Elijah!" she happily tried to put it on and Cyrene helped her clasp the necklace on her small neck.

Xena waltzed over to Gabrielle and nudged her in the ribs. "you bought her _another_ necklace?"

Gabrielle winced and rubbed her side. "Better than a sword, right?" she joked.

Cyrene stood up and grabbed hold of Eve's hand. "I think we should get to bed. We can talk more tomorrow." Eve made a disappointed face but she yawned, feigning sleep. "Goodnight you two," she smiled at the two women now left alone in the living room. They waved and Eve smiled at the two.

Xena began taking off her clothes in her old bedroom and Gabrielle unlaced her boots watching Xena. She sighed and slipped under the covers. "Xena?"

"Yes, Gabrielle?" she sat on the bed and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she began taking off her boots.

"About the other day..." she began and Xena halted, knowing exactly what she was going to ask. "you know you can tell me anything."

Xena sighed and turned to her friend. "It doesn't matter, Gabrielle. I have everything I could ever want. You, Solan, Eve...I don't need anything else and I plan to stick with that."

"I hope I won't ever disappoint you," Gabrielle mumbled. Xena touched her golden hair with a warm smile.

"You won't. Goodnight Gabrielle," she settled down in the blankets and Gabrielle rolled over on her side and blew out the candles. A few moments went by and Xena's eyes remained wide open, fearing sleep wouldn't come to her. "I love you, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle smiled, "love you too, Xena."


End file.
